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It is too hard to choose a single poem by the virtuosic Langston Hughes, so here are two short ones, originally from his MONTAGE OF A DREAM DEFERRED. Necessity Work? I don't have to work. I don't have to do nothing but eat, drink, stay black, and die. This little old furnished room's so small I can't whip a cat without getting fur in my mouth and my landlady's so old her features is all run together and God knows she sure can overcharge— Which is why I reckon I does have to work after all. Juke Box Love Song I could take the Harlem night and wrap around you, Take the neon lights and make a crown, Take the Lenox Avenue busses, Taxis, subways, And for your love song tone their rumble down. Take Harlem's heartbeat, Make a drumbeat, Put it on a record, let it whirl, And while we listen to it play, Dance with you till day— Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl. KEEP CLICKING: About SELECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES About Langston Hughes PLUS: ENTER TO WIN a copy of THE KNOPF NATIONAL POETRY MONTH COLLECTION Purchase a signed edition of Kevin Young's FOR THE CONFEDERATE DEAD Purchase a signed edition of W. S. Di Piero's CHINESE APPLES Miss one of our daily poems? You can view them online in the Knopf Poem-a-Day archive.     Excerpt from SELECTED POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES. Copyright © 1959 by Langston Hughes. Copyright © renewed 1987 by George Houston Bass, Surviving Executor of the Estate of Langston Hughes, Deceased. Excerpted by permission of Vintage Books, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. We welcome your feedback. Please send any thoughts or questions to knopfpoetry@randomhouse.com You received this issue because your email address is in Knopf's Poem-a-Day mailing list. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to unsub_knopfpoetry@info.randomhouse.com. Or if you received this poem as a forward and wish to subscribe, send a blank email to sub_knopfpoetry@info.randomhouse.com.