Langston Hughes




To a Dead Friend

The moon still sends its mellow light
       Through the purple blackness of the night;
The morning star is palely bright
               Before the dawn.

The sun still shines just as before;
The rose still grows beside my door,
                But you have gone.

The sky is blue and the robin sings;
The butterflies dance on rainbow wings
                Though I am sad.

In all the earth no joy can be;
Happiness comes no more to me,
                For you are dead.


spoken = Eye'z