The girls and Ma set out in front And rock and sew like all possessed, And say they can't see why I won't Put on a collar and a vest And set out there with them and rest; But me, I like the back stoop best. The girls and Ma are primped in white (I'm proud of them as I can be), But when it comes to restin' right Somehow we never can agree. There may be more in front to see, But this back stoop will do for me. I'm tired of lookin' at front yards, The feeble grass the city's got, The railroad tracks and boulevards And stony walks and pavements hot, To really rest, I tell you what, I like the old back stoop a lot. There's things out here there ain't in front, That nowhere else a fellah sees. I like to hear the porker grunt And watch the collie fightin' fleas, To hear the chickens and the bees -- I'll take the back stoop, if you please. The common things I cotton to That other folks don't think are fine. I rather like the back yard view: A washin' hangin' on the line, A woodpile with its smell of pine -- I'll take the old back stoop for mine. In front there may be more to see, More "howdies" may be said to you, But I've got neighbors here with me: For chickens chirp and pigeons coo, And bluejays sing a song or two, And so the old back stoop will do. And it don't matter, not a bit, Just how you sprawl or how you're dressed, Don't matter if your trousers fit Or if your coat was ever pressed; The back stoop is the place to jest Set back and rest, and rest, and rest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SOMEBODY LOVED ME by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON GIANT RED WOMAN by CLARENCE MAJOR AT SAGAMORE HILL by EDGAR LEE MASTERS COUNSEIL TO A BACHELER by MARIANNE MOORE PROSIT NEUJAHR by GEORGE SANTAYANA |