The Black Christ & Other Poems/Tongue-tied

by Countee Cullen

Tongue-tied

YOU ask me why I love her, and you pauseMagnanimous, that I may make replyHanding you deftly parceled every cause,Saying with confidence, "Lo, this is why."But I am mute as if I had no tongue,Without reason as if I had no mind,This song the most familiar ever sung,Is lost to me like a leaf caught in the wind.

And so my tongue is tied; and so you smileNot knowing, little lover that you are,(Prattling, "'Twill wear, 'twill last so long a while")The poet is compelled to love his star,Not knowing he could never tell you whyThough silence makes inadequate reply.