Black Moods collects for the first time all of Frank Marshall Davis's extant published poems as well as his previously unpublished work. From sharp-edged sketches of Southside Chicago's urban landscape to the prismatic world that lay beneath Hawaii's placid surface, Davis's muscular poems blend social, cultural, and political concerns—always shaped by his promise to "try to be as direct as good blues."

John Edgar Tidwell's introduction examines both Davis's poetry and his politics, presenting a subtle portrait of a complex writer devoted to exposing discriminatory practices and reaffirming the humanity of the common people.

| Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Chronology Introduction: Weaving Jagged Words into Song Note on the Text Black Man's Verse (1935) Introduction Chicago's Congo Only My Words What Do You Want America? I Sing No New Songs Lynched Rain Gary, Indiana Jazz Band Mojo Mike's Beer Garden Cabaret Returned Five Portraits of Chicago at Night Hands of a Brown Woman Creation Which One? Lullaby death Georgia's Atlanta Portrait of an Old Woman South State Street Profile III. Query VI. Failure VIII. April Night I. Tryst II. To You III. Love Notes at Night IV. The Story Ends V. Realization II. Goldie Blackwell V. Arthur Ridgewood, M.D. VII. Giles Johnson, Ph.D. VIII. Roosevelt Smith I Am the American Negro (1937) I Am the American Negro Dancing Gal Flowers of Darkness They All Had Grand Ideas Christ Is a Dixie Nigger Washington Park, Chicago Note Left by a Suicide To One Who Would Leave Me 'Mancipation Day Notes on a Summer Night Awakening Come to Me Modern Man—the Superman Two Women Midsummer Morn II. Sam Jackson IV. Cleo and Sarah Greeley VI. Nicodemus Perry VII. Mrs. Clifton Townsend VIII. Editor Ralph Williamson IX. Frank Marshall Davis: Writer 47th Street: Poems (1948) Foreword 47th Street Snapshots of the Cotton South Pattern for Conquest Black Weariness Egotistic Runt Chicago Skyscrapers Tenement Room Four Glimpses of Night To Those Who Sing America Peace Quiz for America For All Common People War Zone Nothing Can Stop the People I Bring Proven Gifts Lines to a Summer Love To One Forever Gone To Lorelei Life Is a Woman You Are All Coincidence Man of Science Adam Smothers Spinster: Old I Have Talked with Death Self Portrait Peace Is a Fragile Cup Uncollected and Unpublished Poems, 1948–84 To the Red Army Creed for Hedonists Ours Is a Modern God Little and Big Give Us Our Freedom Now! Finality To Those Seeking Fame Black American Three Average Americans Miss Samantha Wilson To a Young Man Billie Holiday Duke Ellington Charlie Parker Louis Armstrong Lady Day "Swing It Brother Swing" This Is Paradise Moonlight at Kahana Bay Tale of Two Dogs Pacific Invasion 1. Lani 3. Mamie 6. Mary 7. Mrs. ——— 9. Eloise 12. Betty 15. Agnes 18. Flo 20. Wilma 22. Hannah 23. Charity 25. Trudy 27. Rita 30. Jean 31. Patty 33. Olive 35. Josephine 36. Verna 37. Essie Mae To Helen [In What Strange Place] To My Own She Alpha-Omega The Search Ends Alone War Quiz for America Notes to the Poems Blank Page Index of Titles |"What makes reading Davis' poetry worthwhile is his vivid use of imagery, which operates as the engine behind his writing. . . . Tidwell rightfully proclaims that Frank Marshall Davis is a powerful voice that should not be forgotten."—Michael V. Williams, Black Issues Book Review
"Davis is unforgettable when he is fierce. . . . The blues of Frank Marshall Davis weren't the blues of self-pity or mourning . . . but of tempered strength."—Roger Martin, The Topeka Capital-Journal
"With the publication of Black Moods, Tidwell calls not only for the inclusion of Frank Marshall...