Yawcob Strauss and Other Poems/Mother's Doughnuts

390484Yawcob Strauss and Other Poems — Mother's Doughnuts.Charles Follen Adams

MOTHER'S DOUGHNUTS.

El Dorado, 1851.

I've jest bin down ter Thompson's, boys,
'N' feelin' kind o' blue,
I thought I'd look in at " The Ranch,"
Ter find out what wuz new,
When I seen this sign a-hangin'
On a shanty by the lake:
"Here's vvhar yer gets yer doughnuts
Like yer mother used ter make."
I've seen a grizzly show his teeth;
I've seen Kentucky Pete
Draw out his shooter V advise
A " tenderfoot" ter treat;
But nuthin' ever tuk me down,
'N' made my benders shake,
Like that sign about the doughnuts
Like my mother used ter make.
A sort o' mist shut out the ranch,
'N' standin' thar instead
I seen an old white farm-house,
With its doors all painted red.
A whiff came through the open door—
Wuz I sleepin' or awake?
The smell wuz that of doughnuts
Like my mother used ter make.
The bees wuz hummin' round the porch
Whar honeysuckles grew;
A yellow dish of apple sass
Wuz sittin' thar in view;
'N' on the table by the stove
An old-time "johnny-cake,"
'N' a platter full of doughnuts
Like my mother used ter make.
A patient form I seemed ter see,
In tidy dress of black;
almost thought I heard the words,
"When will my boy come back?"
'N' then—the old sign creaked;
But now it wuz the boss who spake,
" Here's whar yer gets yer doughnuts
Like yer mother used ter make."
Well, boys, that kind o' broke me up,
'N' ez I've "struck pay gravel,"
I ruther think I'll pack my kit,
Vamose the ranch, 'u' travel.
I'll make the old folks jubilant,
'N', ef I don't mistake,
I'll try some o' them doughnuts
Like my mother used ter make.