'TAIN'T berry many people wat'll listen to a niggah Un 'low dey's enny sense in wot he say, But I'se gwine ter guv de 'sperience of mah feelin's, and I figgah Dat dey's quite a smart o' people tinks mah way. W'en a man begins a-shoutin' 'bout de good tings dat he's missin' Kickin' kase dey ain't a fortune in his job, Let 'im go home to his kitchen, an' set down a while an' listen To de singin' ob de kettle on de hob. I've hayrd de strains ob "Home, Sweet Home" when Patti was a-singin' An' de aujience was a-spillin' ob deir tears; But I didn't mind the singah, fo' a different tune kep' ringin' Wif hits ha'nty kin' ob music in mah ears. An' I reckernized de melerdy so powerful bewitchin' Dat made mah heart like sixty fo' ter t'rob, An' I mejiate felt a hank'rin' fo' my cozy little kitchen An' de singin' ob de kettle on de hob. De rich man can inhabitate a palace ef he wishes, Wif brick-er-brack and pictuahs on de wall; An' kin lay on velvet sofers an' eat off'n golden dishes, But I wouldn't swap mah kitchen fo' his all; Fo' hit wouldn't be like home ter me but 'ceptin' I could listen, A-puffin' at de backy in mah cob, While de good Lawd seemed a-speakin' ob a homelike kin' ob blessin' Frough de singin' ob de kettle on de hob. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FAT LADY by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE FIRST GRAY HAIR by THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY TO JOSEPH JOACHIM by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES COMFORTERS by ABBIE FARWELL BROWN A LIGHT WOMAN by ROBERT BROWNING WORDS ARE NEVER ENOUGH by CHARLES TORY BRUCE |