STRANGE FRUIT

(Lewis Allen)

Sudden trees bare strange fruit

Blood on the leaves, and blood at the root

Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant south

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth

Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh

Than the sudden smell of burning flesh

Here’s fruit for the crows to pluck

For the rain to gather for the wind to suck

For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop

Here’s a strange and bitter crop

Ó Lewis Allen