Old Lem
- Old Lem
I talked to old Lem and old Lem said: “They weigh the cotton They store the corn We only good enough To work the rows; They run the commissary They keep the books We gotta be grateful For being cheated; Whippersnapper clerks Call us out of our name We got to say mister To spindling boys They make our figgers Turn somersets We buck in the middle Say, “Thankyuh, sah.” They don’t come by ones They don’t come by twos But they come by tens.
“They got the judges They got the lawyers They got the jury-rolls They got the law They don’t come by ones They got the sheriffs They got the deputies They don’t come by twos They got the shotguns They got the rope We git the justice In the end And they come by tens. [End Page 727]
“Their fists stay closed Their eyes look straight Our hands stay open Our eyes must fall They don’t come by ones They got the manhood They got the courage They don’t come by twos We got to slink around Hangtailed hounds. They burn us when we dogs They burn us when we men They come by tens . . .
“I had a buddy Six foot of man Muscled up perfect Game to the heart They don’t come by ones Outworked and outfought Any man or two rmen They don’t come by twos He spoke out of turn At the commissary They gave him a day To git out the county He didn’t take it. He said ‘Come and get me.’ They came and got him And they came by tens. He stayed in the county— He lays there dead.
They don’t come by ones They don’t come by twos But they come by tens.”
