When a man gits on his uppers in a hard-pan sort of town, An' he ain't got nothin' comin' an' he can't afford ter eat, An' he's in a fix for lodgin' an' he wanders up an' down, An' you'd fancy he'd been boozin', he's so locoed 'bout the feet; When he's feelin' sneakin' sorry an' his belt is hangin' slack, An' his face is peaked an' gray-like an' his heart gits down an' whines, Then he's apt ter git a-thinkin' an' a-wishin' he was back In the little ol' log cabin in the shadder of the pines. When he's on the blazin' desert an' his canteen's sprung a leak, An' he's all alone an' crazy an' he's crawlin' like a snail, An' his tongue's so black an' swollen that it hurts him fer to speak, An' he gouges down fer water an' the raven's on his trail; When he's done with care and cursin' an' he feels more like to cry, An' he sees ol' Death a-grinnin' an' he thinks upon his crimes, Then he's like ter hev' a vision, as he settles down ter die, Of the little ol' log cabin an' the roses an' the an' he's longin' fer his call! When the sun of life's a-sinkin' you can see it 'way above, On the hill from out the shadder in a glory 'gin the sky, An' your mother's voice is callin', an' her arms are stretched in love, An' somehow you're glad you're goin', an' you ain't a-scared to die; When you'll be like a kid again an' nestle to her breast, An' never leave its shelter, an' forget, an' love, an' rest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PASSION AND LOVE by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR SONGS FOR THE PEOPLE by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER EPITAPH ON THE TOMB OF SIR EDWARD GILES AND HIS WIFE by ROBERT HERRICK LET ALL THE EARTH KEEP SILENCE by LUCY A. K. ADEE TWO THINGS by AMIR MAHMUD IBN AMIR YAMINU'D-DIN TUGHRA'I CRYING, 'THALASSUS!' by JOSEPH AUSLANDER A WOMAN'S SONNETS: 12 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |