Langston Hughes

I woke up this mornin'

'Bout half past three

All the womens in town

Was gathered round me

Sweet gals was a-moanin',

"Sylvester's gonna die!"

And a hundred pretty mamas

Bowed their heads to cry.

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1902.  Both his parents were of mixed racial origins -- he also had Native American ancestors, and a Jewish great-grandfather.  "Sylvester's Dying Bed" was written in 1931.  Some scholars believe Hughes was gay, but his primary biographer believes he was asexual.