Awful Harbingers

________________________________________________
Title:     Awful Harbingers
Author: Thomas W. Talley [More Titles by Talley]

[36]Awful Harbingers

W'en de big owl whoops,
An' de screech owl screeks,
An' de win' makes a howlin' sound;
You liddle wooly heads
Had better kiver up,
Caze de "hants" is comin' 'round.

FOOTNOTE
[36] This little rhyme is based upon a superstition once current among Negroes, to the effect that bad luck would come when a screech owl called near your home at night unless, upon hearing him, you would stick the handle of a shovel into the fire about which you were sitting, or would throw salt into it. The word "hant" means ghost or spirit.

[The end]
Thomas W. Talley's poem: Awful Harbingers

________________________________________________



GO TO TOP OF SCREEN