Page:The American language; an inquiry into the development of English in the United States (IA americanlanguage00menc 0).pdf/420

His arms around me, dancin'; after that
I'd turn out all the lights, and set there quiet
Whiles Alma Gluck was singin' "Home, Sweet Home",
And almost know his hand was strokin' my hand.

"If I was you, I'd take the Vic," he says,
"It's somethin' you can use; you can't a ring.
Wisht I had ways ta make a record for you,
So's I could be right with you, even though
Uncle Sam had me"…How I'm glad he didn't;
It would be lots too much like seein' ghosts
Now that I'm sure he never won't come back.…

Oh, God! I don't see how I ever stand it!
He was so big and strong! He was a darb!
The swellest dresser, with them nifty shirts
That fold down, and them lovely nobby shoes,
And always all his clothes would be one color,
Like green socks with green ties, and a green hat,
And everything.…We never had no words
Or hardly none.…

    And now to think that mouth
I useta kiss is bitin' into dirt,
And through them curls I useta smooth a bullet
Has went.…
    I wisht it would of killed me, too.…

Oh, well…about the Vic…I guess I'll sell it
And get a small ring anyways. (I won't
Get but half as good a one as if
He spent it all on that when he first ast me.)

It don't seem right to play jazz tunes no more
With him gone. And it ain't a likely chanst
I'd find nobody ever else again
Would suit me, or I'd suit. And so a little