The Birth of John Henry The night John Henry is born an ax             of lightning splits the sky, and a hammer of thunder pounds the earth,       and the eagles and panthers cry!       John Henry—he says to his Ma and Pa:             “Get a gallon of barleycorn.       I want to start right, like a he-man child,             the […]

The post Modernist Poet Melvin B. Tolson's, 'The Birth of John Henry' appeared first on Black Then.