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BALLAD (for Yoran)


I

Started to leave
and couldn't go
for a Yes
or for a No.

Watched the silver tracks turn black
as my lover's back.
Stood there through the night
watched the black turn white.

Started to leave, but couldn't go:
for a Yes, or for a No.

Heard the thunder,
saw his face,
lightning played around the place
where I stood, and couldn't go
for a Yes, or for a No.

II

The hardest thing of all
is hearing the silence fall-
or, no, to see it,
touch it,
watch silence take a form,
watch silence proudly stride
between connecting rooms,
hear silence ride
between, between,
between
you, and all others,
you
and
you.

Oh, Brother, say:
I couldn't hear nobody pray.

Ill

The silence coming yonder
is far from grief
and brings relief.
Beyond time
there is no wonder
there is no crime.

they say:

Brother,
just between me and you
tell me if it's true!

They say
silence brings no anguish
where only silence lives:
negatives,
affirmatives.

Written by James Baldwin (1924-1987)

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