Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, OUR GANG, by BURGES JOHNSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OUR GANG, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We've got a gang, and I belong
Last Line: Or all the rest, or me!
Subject(s): Boys; Brotherhood; Children; Friendship; Play; Childhood


We've got a gang, and I belong,
It's active all the year around;
We've got a drum-corps, twenty strong,
A secret club and camping ground.
And then of course we have a yell
That we can whistle low or hum,
And when I hear it, I can tell
A fellow's calling me to come.
Wherever it might be,
I'd answer instantly,
For I would know 'twas Dop or Al
Or Jinks or Don or Rob or Hal
Or all of 'em but me.

To-day I heard my mother say
How very greatly she enjoys
A-seeing with me in my play
So nice a lot of little boys.
But when I told 'em so, they guessed
That maybe she would not admire
Us all so much, if I confessed
That we had set some woods afire!
It's really true, and we
Were sure as we could be
That men were after Dop and Lest
And Jinks and Buster and the rest
And Don and Rob and me.

But later, in our rondevoo—
A very special secret one—
We talked about a deed or two
Of mischief we had lately done
And then and there we all agreed
We none of us were scared a bit!
We planned another direful deed,
We were so bold and desperit.
We named us the M.D.
And swore to secrecy;
The members we agreed upon
Was Al an' Dop an' Jinks an' Don
An' sev'ral more, an' me.

If you've no gang you call your own,
You're someone to be sorry for.
You can't do direful deeds alone,
And keep the oaths that you have swore.
I know some secrets dark and dread
About us fellows, every one—
But I won't tell, alive or dead,
The awful deeds I know they done.
And though I get to be
A grown-up man, you'll see
I'll never tell on Dop or Al
Or Jinks or Don or Rob or Hal
Or all the rest, or me!





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