Page:Claude McKay Constab Ballads.djvu/57

Rh

Six long fortnight come an’ gone

Since some constab hol’ her up,

An’, wid all de try she try,

She can neber get a tup:

“Me wi’ tell Inspector F

’Bout de ’ole o’ i’ to-day,

An’ den me wi’ really see

Ef him caan’ boun’ dem fe pay.

“Man dem, wid dem hungry gut,

Six long fortnight nyam me rash;

Not a gill me caan’ get when

Chiny dah dun fe him cash

Fe de plenty t’ings me trus’,

Sal’ fish, pork, an’ flour, an’ rice,

Onion an’ ingredients,

Jes’ fe mek de brukfus’ nice.”

See de waitin’ midnight girl

Wid her saucy cock-up lips,

An’ her strongly-built black hands

Pressed against her rounded hips:

She has passed de bound’ry line,

An’ her womanhood is sold;

Wonder not then, as you gaze,

Dat, though young, she looks so bold.

Once she roamed de country woods

Wid a free an’ stainless soul,

But she left for Kingston’s slums,

Gave herself up to de wul’: