Clothes Line

After a while we took in the clothes Nobody said very much Just some old wild shirts and a couple pairs of pants Which nobody really wanted to touch Mama come in and picked up a book And Papa asked her what it was Someone else asked, “What do you care?” Papa said, “Well, just because.” Then they started to take back their clothes Hang them on the line It was January the thirtieth And everybody was feelin’ fine The next day everybody got up Seeing if the clothes were dry The dogs were barking, a neighbor passed Mama, of course, she said, “Hi!” “Have you heard the news?” he said, with a grin “The Vice President’s gone mad!” “Where?” “Downtown.” “When?” “Last night” “Hmm, say, that’s too bad!” “Well, there’s nothing’ we can do about it,” said the neighbor “It’s just something we’re gonna have to forget” “Yes, I guess so,” said Ma Then she asked me if the clothes was still wet I reached up, touched my shirt And the neighbor said, “Are those clothes yours?” I said, “Some of them, not all of them” He said, “Ya always help out around here with the chores?” I said, “Sometime, not all the time” Then my neighbor, he blew his nose Just as Papa yelled outside “Mama wants you to’ come back in the house and bring them clothes!” Well, I just do what I’m told So, I did it, of course I went back in the house and Mama met me And then I shut all the doors