Pixley Folks

SOMETIMES I git to thinkin' o' the days o' youth, an' then There comes a-troopin' through my mind th' wimmin folk an' men I used ter know in Pixley, an' I sit with 'em awhile, A-livin' all th' fun we knew before we put on style; A-dancin' all th' dances, th' lancers an' q'drilles, A-goin' to th' buskin' bees an' picnics on th' hills, An' I quite ferget I 'm livin' on a crowded city street, Where I don't know a quarter of th' people that I meet. I settle in my arm chair, an' I light my meerschaum pipe, An' then I 'm back in Pixley with the apples red an' ripe. I 'm makin' eyes at Agnes, which is wrong I must allow, Coz she was married long ago an' has four babies now. An' I 'm pokin' fun at Lydy, who was in for any joke, But she has married wealthy — still out yonder in th' smoke She is still the laughin' lassie, free from all the haughty airs That wimmin folk think needful when they marry millionaires. Then I steal a kiss from Nellie, an' I hear her say 'No, no!' Th' way she did a thousand times, but never meant it, though. An' again from church we 're comin', an' th' hour is gettin' late An' we stand awhile a-gabbin', she a-swingin' on th' gate, A-tellin' of her uncles an' her aunts, an' how they were, While all that I was wan tin' was to stay an' talk of her. An' again I 'm gettin' ready jes' to ask her to be mine, An' again she ups an' leaves me, sayin' 'Ed, it's after nine." O, I tell you what! It's funny, when I think about it all, An' I kinder get to broodin' an' th' old days I recall When there warn't no automobiles, warn't no problem plays an' such, When th' only fault with young folks was they loved t' play too much; When there warn't no style about us, one warn't richer than another, When we didn't think of money, never snubbed a poorer brother; An' to see 'em now with riches, an' ashamed to even say That they ever lived in Pixley— Why, my soul is there today!