“Tambourines” by Langston Hughes

Posted on June 19, 2022 by Victoria Emily Jones

Thomas, Lava_Clouds of Joy — Lava Thomas (American, 1958–), *Clouds of Joy*, 2021. Tambourines, leather, suede, acrylic mirror, blue acrylic discs, ribbon, 48 × 137 in. Photo courtesy of the artist and Rena Bransten Gallery. [HT]

Tambourines!
Tambourines!
Tambourines
To the glory of God!
Tambourines
To glory!

A gospel shout
And a gospel song:
Life is short
But God is long!

Tambourines!
Tambourines!
Tambourines
To glory!

This poem was originally published in Selected Poems of Langston Hughes (Knopf, 1959), and it appears in The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, ed. Arnold Rampersad (Knopf, 1994; Vintage Books, 1995).