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Plantation echoes

Chapter 22: AXIN’, COON? CUM OBEAH.
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About This Book

A short collection of poems written in a period phonetic dialect that evokes rural plantation life and folk-song rhythms. The pieces range from playful and humorous to plaintive and reflective, depicting work, home, music, seasonal change, and communal gatherings through repetition, colloquial idiom, and musical cadence. Many poems adopt a performative voice and narrative vignette form to capture local speech and sentiment. Several passages employ slang and stereotyped language rooted in their historical moment, which modern readers may find offensive.

AXIN’, COON? CUM OBEAH.

Meadows lak er feddah bed,
Sproutin’ cloveah white an’ red,
Sof’ ez pillahs to de tread,
Axin’, coon? Cum obeah!
Milluns loafin’ in de grass,
Flirtin’ when er coon cum pass,
When er look he dat way cas’,
Axin’, coon? Cum obeah!
Cabbage loafin’ ’roun’ de stump,
Lookin’ sassy fat an’ plump,
Swellin’ up all in er bump,
Axin’, coon? Cum obeah!
Coon er wockin’ at de co’n,
Doh dat’s all fo’ what he’s born,
Wockin, night and’ wockin’ morn,
Hain’t got time cum obeah!