Madam and the Wrong Visitor
by Langston Hughes

A man knocked three times.
I never seen him before.
He said, Are you Madam?
I said, What’s the score?

He said, I reckon
You don’t know my name,
But I’ve come to call
On you just the same.

I stepped back
Like he had a charm.
He said, I really
Don’t mean no harm.

I’m just Old Death
And I thought I might
Pay you a visit
Before night.

He said, You’re Johnson–
Madam Alberta K.?
I said, Yes–but Alberta
Ain’t goin’ with you today!

No sooner had I told him
Than I awoke.
The doctor said, Madam,
Your fever’s broke–

Nurse, put her on a diet,
And buy her some chicken.
I said, Better buy two—
Cause I’m still here kickin’!

–The Collected Poems of LangstonHughes, p. 308