Page:Claude McKay Constab Ballads.djvu/22

18

Wid deir younger tender daughters

Grow’n’ togeder, lush an’ t’ick,

Round’ de mudder tall an’ slimber

Wid her scalloped leaves o’ blue,

In de evenin’ light a-limber,

Or a-tossin’ to an’ fro.

Back to barracks slowly strollin’,

Leavin’ de enticin’ soun’

O’ de Cobre proudly rollin’

T’rough de old deserted town;

Pas’ de level well-kept meadows

O’ de spacious prison-land,

Where de twilight’s fallin’ shadows

Scattered at de moon’s command.

So we passed ’long, half unwillin’,

T’rough de yawnin’ barrack-gate,

Our poo’ hearts wid disdain fillin’

O’ de life we’d larnt to hate;

Visions of a turgid ocean

Of our comrades’ noise an’ woes,

An’ a ne’er-ceasin’ commotion

Sorrowfully ’fo’ us rose.

We mixed in de tumult, waitin’

Fe de moment o’ release,

De disorder never ’batin’,

Never ’batin’ in de leas’

Wid de anger in us growin’,

We grew vexed from black to blue,