The Voyageur and Other Poems | Page 6

de
Yankee side de line.
Unless dere 's oder folk dere,
Mebbe wan or two or t'ree,
Canayen
is comin' workin' on de State--
Den you see petite Marie
Leetle Joe
an' Angelique, Hormisdas an' Dieudonné,
But you can't tole half de
nam'--it don't matter any way-- 'Sides de fader he don't t'ink it's not'ing
great.
De moder, you can see her
An' she got de basket dere
Wit' de fine
t'ing for de chil'ren nice an' slick--
For dey can't get fat on air--

Cucumber, milk, an' onion, some leetle cake also
De ole gran'moder
's makin' on de farm few days ago--
W'at 's use buy dollar dinner
mak' dem sick?

But look de Yankee woman
Wit' de book upon her han',
Readin',
readin', an' her husban', he can't get
Any chance at all, poor man,

For sit down, de way de seat's all pile up wit' magazine-- De t'ing lak
dat on Canadaw is never, never seen.
Would n't she be better wit'
some chil'ren? Wall! you bet!
No wonder dey was bringin'
For helpin' dem along
So many kin' of
feller I dunno--
Chinee washee from Kong Kong
An' w'at dey call
Da-go, was work for dollar a day,
But w'en dey mak' some money,
off dey 're goin', right away-- Dat 's de reason dey was get de nam'
Da-go.
Of course so long dey 're comin'
From ev'ry place dey can,
Not
knowin' moche, dere 's not'ing fuss about
Only boss de stranger man--

But now dem gang of feller dat 's come across de sea--
He 's gettin'
leetle smarter, an' he got de familee--
So Uncle Sam mus' purty soon
look out.
I wonder he don't know it--
It 's funny he don't see
Dere 's somet'ing
else dan money day an' night--
Non--he 'll work hese'f cra-zee,
Den
travel roun' de worl', an' use de money too--
De King hese'f can't
spen' lak de Yankee man is do--
But w'ere 's de leetle chil'ren? dat's
not right!
W'at 's use of all de money
If dere ain't some boy an' girl
Mak' it
pleasan' for de Yankee an' hees wife
W'en dey travel on de worl'?

For me an' Eugenie dere 's not'ing we lak bes'
Dan gader up de
chil'ren an' get dem nicely dress--
W'y it 's more dan half de pleasure
of our life.
I love de Yankee woman
An' de Yankee man also,
An' mebbe dey
'll be wiser bimeby--
But I lak dem all to know
If dey want to kip
deir own, let dem raise de familee--
An' den dey 'll boss de contree
from de mountain to de sea, For dey 're smart enough to do it if dey try.

[Illustration: Bird's nest]
[Illustration: Border]
The Last Portage
I'm sleepin' las' night w'en I dream a dream
An' a wonderful wan it
seem--
For I 'm off on de road I was never see,
Too long an' hard
for a man lak me,
So ole he can only wait de call
Is sooner or later
come to all.
De night is dark an' de portage dere
Got plaintee o' log lyin'
ev'ryw'ere,
Black bush aroun' on de right an' lef,
A step from de
road an' you los' you'se'f;
De moon an' de star above is gone,
Yet
somet'ing tell me I mus' go on.
[Illustration: "De moon an' de star above is gone,
Yet somet'ing tell me I mus' go on."]
An' off in front of me as I go,
Light as a dreef of de fallin' snow--

Who is dat leetle boy dancin' dere
Can see hees w'ite dress an' curly
hair,
An' almos' touch heem, so near to me
In an' out dere among de
tree?
An' den I 'm hearin' a voice is say,
"Come along, fader, don't min' de
way,
De boss on de camp he sen' for you,
So your leetle boy 's
going to guide you t'roo
It 's easy for me, for de road I know,
'Cos I
travel it many long year ago."
An' oh! mon Dieu! w'en he turn hees head
I 'm seein' de face of ma
boy is dead--
Dead wit' de young blood in hees vein--
An' dere he 's
comin' wance more again
Wit' de curly hair, an' dark-blue eye,
So
lak de blue of de summer sky--
An' now no more for de road I care,
An' slippery log lyin' ev'ryw'ere--


De swamp on de valley, de mountain too
But climb it jus' as I use
to do--
Don't stop on de road, for I need no res'
So long as I see de
leetle w'ite dress.
An' I foller it on, an' wance in a w'ile
He turn again wit' de baby smile,

An' say, "Dear fader, I 'm here you see
We 're bote togeder, jus'
you an' me--
Very dark to you, but to me it 's light,
De road we
travel so far to-night.
"De boss on de camp w'ere I alway stay
Since ever de tam I was go
away,
He welcome de poores' man dat call,
But love de leetle wan
bes' of all,
So dat 's de reason I spik for you
An' come to-night for
to bring you t'roo."
Lak de young Jesu w'en he 's here