Page:Claude McKay Constab Ballads.djvu/38



all de people I don’t like,

A chief one is de bummer;

He bums around from morn to night

T’rough winter an’ t’rough summer.

Ef we should go aroun’ John’s shop,

An’ he ketch scent o’ rum’s up,

You’ll soon see’m pokin’ up him nose

Wid him bare-face an’ comes-up.

Ef we are smokin’ cigarette,

He wants a part of it too;

An’ ebery bluff you gi’e to him,

He’s answer got to fit you.

Anedder thing I really hate

Is, when de touris’ come in,

To see some people flockin’ dem,

An’ ebery one a-bummin’.

I think it is an ugly sight

To see a bummin’ bobby;

Yet plenty o’ dem tek it for

A precious piece of hobby.