Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JOHNNY ONIONS, by MARY SINTON LEITCH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JOHNNY ONIONS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: He loafs along the dock where the little fruit-boats
Last Line: That are searching -- ever searching -- for the sea!
Subject(s): Fruit


He loafs along the dock where the little fruit-boats rock;
You will know old Johnny Onions by his gait,
For he rolls and heaves and lurches;
If you stop to make a purchase
Of an orange, you can use it as a bait,
For fruit is Johnny's passion
In his own peculiar fashion;
One date can change a pine into a palm,
And the very scent of mango
Makes him yearn to dance the tango
The way black Juanita danced it down in Guam.
A single red banana
Can transport him to Havana;
Though the years have laid old Johnny by the lee,
Yet his windward fancies range
Over waters wide and strange
And his gaze is ever outward to the sea.

He will tell you he was cook upon the square-rig, "Molly Look,"
In the days before the lime-juice Parliament,
When the crew had tots of rum
And the Chinks their opium;
Salt horse was sweet washed down with 'aggie-dent'!
Plum duff and hot dog's body;
Ah, poor John, he 'would to God 'e
Could taste 'ash like that -- then pass to Davy Jones'!
He is only a beach-comber,
Yet the name is a nisnomer
Though gunny bags are all the clothes he owns;
For clean the salt winds blow
Upon Johnny's heart, I know;
Across his spirit wild they blow and free;
Something wistful, something wise,
You will find within his eyes
That are searching -- ever searching -- for the sea!





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