| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
| |
| 1242. Kree |
| | | By Armistead Churchill Gordon |
| |
| |
| MY boy Kree? | |
| He played wid you when you was a chile? | |
| You an’ he | |
| Growed up tergether? Wait! Lemme see! | |
| Closer! so I can look in yer face!— | 5 |
| Mars’ George’s smile! | |
| Lord love you, Marster! | |
| Dar ’neaf dat cypress is whar Kree lays. | |
| |
| Sunburnt an’ grown! | |
| Mars’ George, I shudden ha’ knowed you, son, | 10 |
| ’Count o’ de beard dat yer face has on, | |
| But for dat ole-time smile o’ your’n— | |
| “An’ Kree?” you say. | |
| Had n’t you heerd, Marster, | |
| He ’ceasded de year dat you went away? | 15 |
| |
| Kree an’ you! | |
| How de ole times comes back onst mo’— | |
| Moonlight fishin’s, an’ hyars in de sno’; | |
| Squirrels an’ jaybirds up overhead, | |
| In de oak-trees dat de sun shined through!— | 20 |
| Look at me, Marster! | |
| Here is me livin’; an’ Kree, he ’s dead. | |
| |
| ’Pears ter me strange | |
| Now, when I thinks on ’em, dose ole years: | |
| Mars’ George, sometimes de b’ilin’ tears | 25 |
| Fills up my eyes, | |
| ’Count o’ de mizery now, an’ de change— | |
| De sun dims, Marster, | |
| Ter an ole man, when his one boy dies. | |
| |
| Did you say “How?” | 30 |
| Out in de dug-out, one moonshine night, | |
| Fishin’ wid your baby brother—he | |
| Wid de curls o’ yaller, like streaks o’ light, | |
| An’ de dancin’ big blue eyes. Dead, now— | |
| Kree died for him; | 35 |
| An’ yearnin’ for Kree, | |
| De Lord tuk him, Marster: | |
| De green grass kivers ’em bofe f’om sight. | |
| |
| Heerd o’ de tale? | |
| Did n’ know Kree was de one dat drowned | 40 |
| Sav’n’ Mars’ Charley? Well, ’t were he. | |
| De boy waxed weaker, his face mo’ pale, | |
| Arter de corpse o’ poor Kree were found. | |
| Two months later he went, you see: | |
| God bless you, Marster! | 45 |
| Nine years has rolled over bofe onder ground. | |
| |
| Worn out an’ gray, | |
| Here I sets waitin’, Mars’ George, alone. | |
| All on ’em’s gone— | |
| Marster an’ Mistis, an’ Charley an’ he. | 50 |
| You an’ me only is lef’. Some day, | |
| When you ’s gone back ter yer ship on de sea, | |
| I ’ll hear him say, | |
| Jes’ as he used ter, a-fishin’, ter me: | |
| “Daddy, come over!” An’ passin’ away, | 55 |
| Dat side de river, again I ’ll be | |
| Wid my boy Kree. | |
| |
|
|
|
