Mrs. Johnson Objects
Mrs. Johnson Objects
Original Text
Thompson, Clara Ann. "Mrs. Johnson Objects." Black Sister: Poetry by Black Amrican Women, 1746-1980. Ed. Erlene Stetson. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1981. PS591 .N4 B43 Robarts Library
1Come right in this house, Will Johnson!
2 Kin I teach you dignity?
3Chasin' aft' them po' white children,
4 Jest because you wan' to play.
5Whut does po' white trash keer fah you?
6 Want you keep away fum them,
7Next, they'll be-a-doin' meanness,
8 An' a-givin' you the blame.
9Don't come mumblin' 'bout their playthings,
10 Yourn is good enough fah you;
11'Twus the best that I could git you,
12 An' you've got to make them do.
13Go'n' to break you fum that habit,
14 Yes, I am! An' mighty soon,
15Next, you'll grow up like the white-folks,
16 All time whinin' fah the moon.
17Runnin' with them po' white children--
18 Go'n' to break it up, I say!--
19Pickin' up their triflinn' habits,
20 Soon, you'll be as spilte as they.
21Come on here, an' take the baby--
22 Mind now! Don't you let her fall--
23'Fo' I'll have you runnin' with them,
24 I won't let you play at all.
25Jest set there, an' mind the baby
26 Till I tell you --You may go;
27An' jest let me ketch you chasin'
28 Aft' them white trash any mo'.
Publication Start Year
1908
Publication Notes
Songs from the Wayside, 1908
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2009
Rhyme
Form