De Day Befo Poem by Maggie Pogue Johnson

Thanksgibin' day am now at han'
In my imagination,
I see de tuckies take a stan'
Aroun' de ol' plantation.
En jis befo' dis great, great day,
Dey form dey selves in line,
En in a sore o' serious way,
While one am markin' time,—
Dey marches 'roun de big hous',
De gobbler front ob line,
To sho' de folks dat dey aint skeered
Ef 'tis Thanksgibin' time.
De lady tuckies follows on,
En, my! dey puts on airs,
As ef dey neber min's dis worl'
Wif all it's toils en cares.
Dey's fixin' now to sho' off,
Case dis am de fus chance
Since dey's had much meat on der bones
Dat dey cud hab a dance.
De gobbler gibes a gobble,
Den all de tuckies prance,
I tell you way dey wobbles,
Dey knows sumpin' 'bout a dance.
De folks all in de big hous'
Am comin' to de do'
To see what de tuckies am about
Dat's causin' sich a sho'.
De ol' gobbler waits
Till dey git outside de do',
Now he's lafin to hisse'f,
Case dey gwine to hab a sho'.
De ladies ob de hous'
Am now out on de lawn,
De tuckies gwine to run dem,—
Run dem sho's you born!
Quietly dey tries to strut
'Roun de ladies ob de hous',
While dey stans dar a grinnin'
To see what dey's about.
Soon de gobbler gibes a gobble,
En at de ladies start,
Ol' Missus, how she wobbles,
I hear de beatin' ob dey hearts.
Dey am makin' fer de hous',
Miss Carrie front ob line,
De odder ladies follow,
While de tuckies clos' behin',
Soon dey falls into de do'
In a sort ob mos'ac style,
De gobbler heads de list,
Dey a yellin' all de while.
Missus calls out, Dinnah!
Come here; come here! quick!
And kill this turkey gobbler!
Come and kill him quick!
En when I got dar, what a sight!
De ladies in a pile,
De gobbler pickin' wif his might
On Missus lubely chile.
I grab de gobbler by de nake,
Pull him fru de hall,
Tol' him take de las' view
Ob Missus lubely walls.
I took him to de wood pile,
Whar lay de cuttin ax,
En calls out, come here! Ephraim chile!
En gib dis boy a whack!
Tomorrow am thanksgibin' day,
En sho' as I is able,
Dis tuckey in some stylish way,
Will be on Missus' table.
Ephraim raises up de ax,
En wif all his might
He gibes de fatal whack
Dat takes de tuckies life.
En Missus says till yit,
As long as she is libin',
She neber will forgit
De day befo' Thanksgibin'.