Of all the pleasant places, oh, the best, I do believe, Was old Jemima’s kitchen one snowy Christmas eve, When Ted and Eleanor and I drew up her big arm-chair, And we, on kitchen-boxes, sat in a circle there! And Aunt Jemima said: “Lan’ sakes! You chillun beah ag’in? Well, I reckon I must tell you about Br‘er Tarra-pin, How he frazzled po’ ole Mistah Fox and fooled Br‘er Buzzard, too, And played a mighty low-down trick on Mistah Kangaroo.” The wind howled down the chimney, but the fire it snapped and glowed As Jemima told us, also, of Br‘er Rabbit and Br‘er Toad, And that other funny story of Br‘er Turtle and Br‘er Coon, And showed us li‘l Br‘er Rabbit‘s house, away up in the moon. And then she said: “Now, chillin, run—’fo’ Santa comes along!” And leaned back in her squeaky chair and sang a Christmas song. Carolyn S. Bailey.
