Plantation echoes

Chapter 38: IS YO’ LONESUM, HONEY?

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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.

IS YO’ LONESUM, HONEY?

Ez de twilight fall,

An’ de koo-koo call,

An’ yo’ doan’ hyeah ’tall

Dis hyeah coon’s foot fall,

Is yo’ lonesum, Honey?

Ez de moon creep high,

In de starlit sky,

An’ yo’ sot an’ sigh,

Kaze I doan’ cum nigh,

Is yo’ lonesum, Honey?

Ez de night creep on,

Till de sun brings dawn,

Ez yo’ wake an’ yawn

In de cool ob de morn,

Still, yo’ lonesum, honey?