Yawcob Strauss and Other Poems/Mother's Doughnuts

El Dorado, 1851.


 * I've jest bin down ter Thompson's, boys,
 * 'N' feelin' kind o' blue,
 * I thought I'd look in at " The Ranch,"
 * Ter find out what wuz new,
 * When I seen this sign a-hangin'
 * On a shanty by the lake:
 * "Here's vvhar yer gets yer doughnuts
 * Like yer mother used ter make."
 * I've seen a grizzly show his teeth;
 * I've seen Kentucky Pete
 * Draw out his shooter V advise
 * A " tenderfoot" ter treat;
 * But nuthin' ever tuk me down,
 * 'N' made my benders shake,
 * Like that sign about the doughnuts
 * Like my mother used ter make.
 * A sort o' mist shut out the ranch,
 * 'N' standin' thar instead
 * I seen an old white farm-house,
 * With its doors all painted red.
 * A whiff came through the open door—
 * Wuz I sleepin' or awake?
 * The smell wuz that of doughnuts
 * Like my mother used ter make.


 * The bees wuz hummin' round the porch
 * Whar honeysuckles grew;
 * A yellow dish of apple sass
 * Wuz sittin' thar in view;
 * 'N' on the table by the stove
 * An old-time "johnny-cake,"
 * 'N' a platter full of doughnuts
 * Like my mother used ter make.
 * A patient form I seemed ter see,
 * In tidy dress of black;
 * almost thought I heard the words,
 * "When will my boy come back?"
 * 'N' then—the old sign creaked;
 * But now it wuz the boss who spake,
 * " Here's whar yer gets yer doughnuts
 * Like yer mother used ter make."
 * Well, boys, that kind o' broke me up,
 * 'N' ez I've "struck pay gravel,"
 * I ruther think I'll pack my kit,
 * Vamose the ranch, 'u' travel.
 * I'll make the old folks jubilant,
 * 'N', ef I don't mistake,
 * I'll try some o' them doughnuts
 * Like my mother used ter make.