One day we went a berryin
Me an' Ma' an' Mike,
Without a bit uv hurryin
We sauntered up the pike.
A-listenin to the river
Sing a liquid song,
A-seekin' shady kiver,
Jist a mosien along.
Tree tops all a quiver
In the gentle breeze
A-singin to the Giver,
Keeper of the trees.
A-walkin in the sunshine
Long the windin' stream,
A-kickin' up the pebbles,
Jist to see 'em gleam.
We left the sunny highway
A-glitterin' in the sun
An' took a thorny byway
Up a mountain run,
Through the tangled wildwood
A-glittering with the dew,
Bringin' back our childhood
When me an' little Sue
Used to gather berries
Together in wood,
A-lookin' like two cherries
A makin' love for good.
We used our canes a plenty
A-climbin' up that mile,
An' feelin' young as twenty
When we courted on the style.
Back in Injiany
Nigh fifty years ago,
An' got it good and tanny
A-hikin' to and fro.
We hit the berry paster
After climbin up the hill,
A puffin' fast an' faster
Than we nigh most ever will.
Yes, sure it was a "joner"
To reach that berry patch,
But I surely pulled a "boner"
When I nearly lost my thatch
In the pesky briars
Where I met my Waterloo
That put me with the liars
Jisst out from Kalamazoo.
The prickles an' the chiggers
They goard me to the quick,
I can never count with figgers
What made me look so sick;
A hundred bleddin' scratches
A bites a hundred more,
Let the bloke who matches
Me jist tally up the score.
We picked a half a bushel
Of berries good an' black
An' toted up Mt. Pisgah
In a busted haver-sack,
Paper bags and boxes
An' a little gallon pail
Good enough for two old foxes
An' a fairy tale.
Jelly, jam an' butter
We got about a crate,
Ma made without a flutter,
An' shipped er home by freight |