We held elecshun in our town 'Bout railroads runnin' thru— Sum wanted ter subway 'em down, Sum elervate ter view; Sum wuz fer West Shore rite uv way, Sum fer the Northern Rout; And sum thare wuz who knoo the leest, Put up the loudest shout. Thare wuz sum feller they calls Bill Upon the Northern side, A candel maker, sumwun sed, Who wanted ter decide. He sed he'd watched 'em nite and day A belchin' smoak and sut; The way he'd talk and spend his cash You'd think he wuz a nut. They hired an Engineer named Fay Ter tell 'em what ter do, And when he told 'em sum folks sed The feller never knoo. Sum hired a girl out Cleavlend way Who wuz a peach ter shout, Altho she did not reely know What it wuz all about. And when I heerd that woman say The wurds they wud prepair, It made me git rite up and walk Outside ter breathe the air; And when I heerd sum Docter croak, Ter me it did appear Thare must be properties in smoak Within the nose and ear That coats the membrains over so No microbes kin git neer; Perhaps the railroad's awful noise Kin make deaf peepul heer. It makes me sumtimes wunder why He is a docter man When he kin be so versatile About a railroad plan. Wimmin' and docters seem ter know More than an engineer Just whare a railroad orter go, Ter them it is most cleer; The men who bild and run the rodes Shud surely take advice From cooks, and maids, and orators, Or else they are not nice. Down in the districk whare I vote Thare wuz a mile between The hind-end of the votin' line And that air vote merchine. Boss Kelley wuz a hangin' 'round Outside the polin' place,— He must have bin a bettin', 'cause He wuzn't in the race. And when they all had voted 'til They cudn't vote no more, They started in a countin' 'til The North Side bunch got sore. The Docter sez—"Let me and Bill Just count them votes wunz more,— 'Twas in the countin' Tunney wun— And so with the West Shore." It sure wuz vocal exercise Just routin' rodes by mouth, And if we wate a few more years Sum folks may rout 'em south. But when the votin's all bin dun, Who haz the final say? Who is it owns the railroads and Who haz the rite uv way? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SARAH THREENEEDLES (BOSTON, 1698) by KATHARINE LEE BATES VOLATUS TRIUMPHANS by LUCIUS MORRIS BEEBE ISAIAH: PERFECT PEACE by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE PSALM 113 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE TWO SKETCHES: 1. H.B. by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |