Then There Was Harlem Poem by Candis Johnson

I mourn you
Though, I never knew you
I’m part of you but we’ve never met
I love you, but
You’re merely a distant reverie
Black boys and black girls
Who, eventually became black men and women
They are my family but we’ve never met
I won’t say we’re estranged
Time just gave them different names
The family I’m talking about
You might remember
Claude and Langston
Zora and Jessie Redmon
I never knew them but
They birthed me
A dream deferred
That will never be me
We are family
Zora, Langston, Jessie, Claude and me
They gave birth to Harlem
Which in turn gave birth to me