Benjamin Franklin King (Бенджамин Франклин Кинг)

Benton Harbor, Mich

Sometimes I ain't a thing to do, an' so jist for the nonce,
I think of things I didn't see out on Midway
   Plaisance.
Although they claimed 'at every tribe an' nation,
   seems to me,
Was represented, yit there's some I simply didn't
   see.
I went all through the Cairo Street, an' saw the Luxor
   great,
I saw the South Sea Islanders an' them from Congo
   State,
I saw the Patagonians, but, durn it all, my wish
Was more to see them funny folks from
                                        Benton Harbor, Mich.

I took in all the bildin's that was prom'nent on the
   grounds,
Got in with a C'lumbian guard and we jist went the
   rounds.
I says to him, "I'm here this week to take the hull
   thing in;
I might not git a chance to go against the thing agin.
Outside o' horterculture an' some o' the smaller fruits
I want to see them Wolverines at's still a-wearin'
   boots.
So don' show me no minin' er animals er fish,
I'd rather see them curios from
                                        Benton Harbor, Mich.

What d' I care for foreign folks 'at come from pagan
   lands?
I've heerd an' read enough of Paig, an' heerd the
   tom-tom bands.
I've seen enough of Egypt, 'n Algiers, 'nd ancient
   Rome,
An' now I'm jist a-spilin' for somepin' right 'round
   home.
Why, gosh all Friday! Take yer Turks an' all yer
   foreign kit,
I want to see them Wolverines, an' I ain't seen 'em
   yit;
Old Michigan I'm after; seems as if I heerd the
   swish
Of breakers like I used to in
                                        Benton Harbor, Mich.

So comin' out from there I says, "We'll take another
   route;
Course you may know your bizness, but I know what
   I'm about.
I'm on a hunt fer friends jist now, not Japs er
   Javanese,
Or sore-eyed Esquimaux, er Coons, er bias-eyed
   Chinese.
I've heerd enough of 'Hot! hot! hot!' got frightened
   at the roar
'Round Hagenbeck's, an' shook hands with the Sultan
   of Johore
Until I'm simply tired out, an' now my only
   wish
Is jist to see them old-time folks from
                                        Benton Harbor, Mich."

I walked till I got dusty an' thought I'd like to
   wash,
When lookin' up I saw a tower--'twas Michigan,
   by gosh!
"Come on," I says, "I'll show you now some
   folks you never saw,
Human bein's from Muskegon, Dowagiac, an' Sagi-
   naw;
Them folks 'at raises celery 'way out in Kal'mazoo,
Cassopolis, an' Globeville, an' Ypsilanti, too--
St. Joe an Berrien Centre." I guess I got my
   wish,
I jined the jays an' we went back to
                                        Benton Harbor, Mich." 

1. No Harm Done
2. How Often
3. Her Folks An' Hiz'n
4. The Yaller Jackets' Nest
5. The Flowers' Ball

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