bloke is drinking by himself. He picks up the phone to call langston. It rings unanswered. He keeps trying two more times before giving up. He picks up a newspaper to read. The headline says, ‘Hughes Dies After a Surgery’. He is in shock as he reads the article aloud.

BLOKE: On May 6, famous American poet Langston Hughes visited the New York Polyclinic Hospital and secretly got himself admitted. It appears that in hospital records, he only wrote James L Hughes, and the staff might not have picked up that this was the great Langston Hughes. He underwent a minor surgery on 12 May, and even though at some stage he seemed to be on the road to recovery, his health suddenly deteriorated. It appears that his health turned for the worse after contracting a virus in hospital. He stopped breathing on 22 May 1967.

BLOKE: So long, my American Bantu. Pula!