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Plantation echoes

Chapter 25: KAZE DE SUN AM SINKIN’.
By Elliott Blaine Henderson
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Poetry

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.

KAZE DE SUN AM SINKIN’.

Droopy, droopy, am de flow’rs,
Petals closed an’ shrinkin’,
Gone er sleepin’ an’ er doze—
Kaze de sun am sinkin’!
All de day er lookin’ gran’
An’ er ’fumein’ up de lan’,
Baskin’ now in slumbah’s stran’—
Kaze de sun am sinkin’!
Droopy, droopy, am de flow’rs,
Petals closed an’ shrinkin’
Peepahs shet an’ fas’ ersleep,
Kaze de sun am sinkin’!
Crystal brooklet glidin’ ’long
Chants to dem er cradle song,
Res’ an’ slumbah, weary throng—
Kaze de sun am sinkin’!
Droopy, droopy am de flow’rs,
Petals closed an’ shrinkin’,
Lull’d ersleep in fairy realm,
Kaze de sun am sinkin’!
All dey tinsels tints an’ hue
Dat attracts de bees an’ woo,
Closed dey now am all to view—
Kaze de sun am sinkin’!
Droopy, droopy, am de flow’rs,
Petals closed an’ shrinkin’!
Soon will wake wid birds an’ bees,
When de sun’s dun sinkin’!
When de sunlight mounts to view,
At de tech o’ mornin’s dew
Once mo’ will dey ope to view—
Kaze de sun’s dun sinkin’!