Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/94

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GAMESTERS ALL

The river boat had loitered down its way,
The ropes were coiled, and business for the day
Was done. The cruel noon closed slowly down
And cupped the streaming town.
Stray voices called across the blinding heat,
Then drifted off to shadowy retreat
Among the sheds. The waters of the bay
Sucked away
In tepid swirls
As listless as the day.
Silence closed about me like a wall
Final and obstinate as death.
Until I longed to break it with a call,
Or barter life for one deep, windy breath.

A mellow laugh came rippling
Across the stagnant air
Lifting it into little waves of life.
Then, true and clear,
I caught
A snatch of harmony;
Sure, lilting tenor and a drowsing bass,
Elusive chords that weave and interlace,
And poignant little minors broken short
Like robins calling June.
And then the tune:

"Oh, nobody knows when de Lord am goin' ter call,
Roll dem bones.
It may be in de Summer time an may be in de Fall,
Roll dem bones.
But yer got ter leabe yer baby an yer home an all.
So, roll dem bones
Oh, my brudder,
Oh, my brudder,
Oh, my brudder,
Roll dem bones."

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