O ma po’ neglected Liza an’ her piccaninny Jo,
Ah’s ben roamin’ sence Ah left her case Ah wanted fo’ to go!
Ah’s ben hustlin’ roun’ de islands, navigatin’ all de sea,
While ma honey specs a hungry shark done stuff hisself wid me.
While we chaw a chunk o’ hahd-tack mos’ as tendah as a brick,
But d’ain’t no smokin’ ’possum while de cook am lyin’ sick.
—Copyright by the publisher, A. M. Robertson, San Francisco; and used by his kind permission.
JOSIAH AND SYMANTHY
By Fred Emerson Brooks
Josiah loved Symanthy