Harlem Poems | Examples

queenie from harlem

from Caribbean
queenie harlems queen of crime
ran the neighborhood

dressing to the nines
a civil rights activist
financial wizard

she taunted gangsters
to steal her territory
in newspaper ads

a gang war ensued
forty people were left dead
killer queen escaped

From Harlem To Heaven

From Harlem's pulse, a symphony untold,
Stories etched in a brownstone, dreams unfold.
Streetlamps pierce the twilight, jazz ignites,
Hope flickers, a flame against the nights.

Laughter rings on stoops where neighbors meet,
Gospel choirs rise, voices strong and sweet.
Stony sidewalks hold a million strides,
Asphalt dreams where destiny confides.

Stars peek through the rooftops, reaching high,
A silent promise whispered to the sky.
From Harlem's struggle, a spirit takes flight,
Soaring upwards, bathed in heavenly light.

Just Below The Harlem River

Life is quite good
-indoors in Inwood.
It’s uptown Manhattan
at the northern tip
-the northern tip is
the tippity-top,
where the kitty cat 
Calvin loathes to stop 
-cat napping.
Curled in a chair
100 paws from
the door…
clawless paws curled
and inert.
Licked immaculately 
clean of dirt.
Perfectly content
to go nowhere,
or at most a stone’s throw away.
“Everything’s here,
I’m in NYC”, he mused.
“If I get bored
I’ll watch the news,
or read the New York Post,
and the deli downstairs
does a pretty good job
with a Denver Omelet
and whole wheat toast.
The Bronx is a pitter
patter away, just in case
I want to stray.
I checked the map
(there’s a little bridge)
but for now, this chair is
where I’ll stay,
and take a kitty 
cat nap…
all day.”

Harlem in the 40s

Harlem in the 40s

Harlem in the 40s was a place of rhythm and soul
Where music was the language and jazz was the goal
Where singers and musicians made the crowds go wild
Where swing and bebop and blues were the style

Harlem in the 40s was a place of art and flair
Where painters and sculptors showed their talent and care
Where colors and shapes and forms were the expression
Where beauty and meaning and vision were the impression

Harlem in the 40s was a place of words and wisdom
Where poets and writers shared their stories and opinions
Where rhyme and meter and metaphor were the tools
Where inspiration and emotion and message were the rules

Harlem in the 40s was a place of joy and wonder
Where people celebrated their culture and their power
Where creativity and innovation were the norm
Where Harlem was a renaissance and a legend was born

Harlem Nocturne

In the heart of Harlem's nocturnal embrace,
where the moon's silver threads interlace.
Streetlamps hum a jazz-filled tune,
underneath the city's ebony dune.

Brownstone whispers, history untold,
in the rhythm of the Harlem night's hold.
A symphony of footsteps on cobblestone,
each echo a tale, each shadow, a home.

Saxophone solos from an open window,
melodies that the city's heart knows.
Dancing notes in the summer air,
as dreams ascend the winding stair.

Voices rise from the stoops below,
poetry in the cadence, in the ebb and flow.
In the Harlem night, stars align,
a constellation of stories, yours and mine.

Countee's verses echo on these streets,
where the past and present gently meets.
Harlem's heartbeat, a rhythmic boon,
sung in the verses of a Harlem nocturne.

Harlem Renaissance Haiku

Near nice allies need
to confront this beast in the 
moment to be brave.

Not in a memoir 
when you’re 75 and 
few feet from the grave. 

For colored people 
and all people of color
start a whining wave.

Why do we still fight
for the same civil rights of 
nineteen sixty-three?

Did you know Comcast
is fighting against the rights  
of Black and poor folks?

Look it up yourself
know what is going on around you
find a cause to fight.

Use your pen and voice
raise your voice and write it down
vote a righteous cause.

Organize your block
note differences and respect
put judgement on pause. 

Let’s make it better
you and I together to
help correct the flaws.

The Harlem Globetrotters

The Globetrotters haven't had enough
Thrilling crowds with their magical stuff
Magic it was
Creating a buzz
A hoop at the bell was sure up to snuff

Saturday Night In Harlem

Juke joints bopping
The bands rocking 
Couples dancing 
Bouncers bouncing 

Just another Saturday night in Harlem 

Brothers dressed to thrill
Ladies looks would kill
Sweats flying
Partners screaming 

Another Saturday night in Harlem 

Bottles popping 
Booze flowing 
Food on the plate 
Better hurry don't be late 

It's Saturday night in Harlem 

Well the nights at an end
Shake hands and kiss your lady friend 
One more song, it will be my treat.
Come on baby, we'll come next week 

Another Saturday night in Harlem 

(c)kingpen2021

Harlem To Cannes

Those living in Harlem
want to move to Midtown

The people in Midtown,
to the Upper West Side

The Upper West Side, 
to the Long Island Shore

The Long Island Shore,
to Aspen or Vail

Aspen or Vail,
to the Champs Elysees

The Champs Elysees,
to the beaches in Cannes

People will search for where
life can begin

A place that remains distant
and far out of reach

An excuse to look outward
and not in themselves

Theirs souls left in turmoil
—their hearts not at rest

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2018)

I Urban Harlem-

Urban Harlem
-------------

"I Urban Harlem-Pokes up inland outward Like gray/black otters
Bumpy spars Cotton skies murky waters
Urban scrape building huddles
Broken and bundles like a jigsaw puzzle
~
Checker board black and read
King me, non rich selfish and poor
Looks like a concrete forest
Zzz’s for ladders in this jungle floor
~
Urban Harlem-Hazed and high off low esteem
Painted structures colors write
Wires containing promises and screams
Bleeding citizens encased in blight
~
Don’t seen right boxes to the skies
Bricks brown and red burnt orange crawling
Chocolate melts in-mixed the killing flies
Urban scrape building huddles- Harlem
~
Stage the horizon poor improvised 
Make the pointed bits show up like a burning fire
Black shocks of towers of forest trees
mountainous building towering scenes
Citizens screams in-mixed of police sirens
Urban scrape building huddles- Harlem I"

Cityscape Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Julia Ward |

Harlem Frights

Me and my wife went to Harlem, New York 
We were stand-outs, and I looked like a dork 
An angry man with a knife 
Came up to me and my wife 
And he said... "do you know where to find me a fork" 

Sweating and shaking, I said, "I don't know... 
But if you want, I'll find one, let me go" 
He said. "okay, see you soon" 
I said, "I'll see you in June... 
Hold my wife, on my way...to Idaho" 


State Limerick Poetry Contest 
Sponsor Kevin Shaw 
7--16-2019

Harlem To Paris

Those living in Harlem
  want to live in Midtown

The people in Midtown
  the Upper West Side

The Upper West Side on
  the Long Island Shore

The Long Island Shore
  in Aspen or Vail

Aspen or Vail
  to the beaches in Cannes

The bathers in Cannes
  to the Champs Elysees

People always search for where
  life can begin

A place that remains distant
  and far out of reach

Any excuse to look outward
  and not in themselves

Theirs souls left in turmoil
 —their hearts not at rest

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2018)

Harlem Globetrotters

Harlem Globetrotters
most famous trotters
clowns of the court
and best of sport 
watching the game 
never the same
performers they are
they really gone far

East Harlem To the Grand Tetons

No words, oily body sweats, city summer.
Desperate to get out and never return although
stalled on Triborough Bridge I admired the skyline.

My city, my death, I did it my way.
Counting your blessings a healthy activity, 
the park out my back window, a job that pays.

But I am losing strength to fight
for the world in my imagination. Acceptance of reality
makes me a fossil of society.

Basho in old age found strength to walk
deep into the mountains. He visited famous sites
up north. Po Chu-i traveled mountains in his dreams.

You can leave at any time. You can return
without being seen. A way to learn
your insignificance, freedom to have never been.

In Harlem

I saw a wolf early one morn
While traveling Harlem's street
Seemed my safety was at stake just then
As I and he stood face to face
Upon a lonely rectangular Island
Empty streets bordering

I thought it odd, his stare
It quickened heartbeats within me, as
I...not knowing...halted
At first, a mean dog I feared, stood poised
But soundlessly he paused
As though pure harmless innocence he saw just then
Or was it unspeakable hunger he felt?

Up close, his light brown features like a fox
His eyes like topaz, sunlit warm; lingered soft
And then; as if to let me pass in peace
He stood at ease, as I, a Nurse in full white, eased on.

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• Short Harlem Poems
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