Page:Claude McKay Constab Ballads.djvu/27



my marnin’ bat’ alone,

An’ wept for Bennie dat was gone;

An’ after,—sittin’, weepin’ long,—

Some one came askin’ wha’ be’n wrong:

But only chokin’ sobs he heard,

My mout’ could never speak a word.

An’ so for long days all was grief,

An’ never could I get relief;

My heart be’n full of emptiness,

With naught to love an’ naught to bless.

I ’member de familiar scene:—

I sat out on de Depôt green,

Restin’ agains’ de big great gun:

De long rays o’ de settin’ sun

Were thrown upon the sombre wall;

I heard de rousin’ bugle-call

In chorus soundin’ o’ retreat;

A ray o’ light shone on my seat,

A soft dull shade of changin’ gold,

So pleasant, lovely to behold:

A moment,—an’ I was alone,

De wanin’ evenin’ sun was gone.