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Rest in Peace

by Claude McKay, 1922

No more for you the city's thorny ways,
  The ugly corners of the Negro belt;
The miseries and pains of these harsh days
  By you will never, never again be felt.

No more, if still you wander, will you meet
  With nights of unabating bitterness;
They cannot reach you in your safe retreat,
  The city's hate, the city's prejudice!

'Twas sudden—but your menial task is done,
  The dawn now breaks on you, the dark is over,
The sea is crossed, the longed-for port is won;
  Farewell, oh, fare you well! my friend and lover.

Published in Harlem Shadows
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