The gardens were gone; fodder was shocked
Johnson Bottom had grown a mite stale
School had started; fall was in the air
The only excitement being junk mail

Mother and Daddy and Milton and June
Decided to liven things up a bit
And throw a party in our coal camp
Before the snows of winter hit

There was never a need for invitations
In our part of Freeburn town
What with all the back-fence gossip
The word eventually got around

The night of the party was rowdy
With all the pickin' and grinnin' going on
Peanut kept time on his moonshine jug
And Granny's washboard joined the fun

RC Cola™ and potted meat sandwiches
Covered a table set up in the lane
Along with vegetables from the garden
The smell was like a sweet refrain

Nettie and Pope and the youngins rolled in
From the north, up Michigan way
Pope had a job in an auto plant
But their Kentucky roots held sway

Stub Dotson showed up a little late
'Cause his buckboard had thrown a wheel
Aunt Vicey and Melvin Duckworth came
In their new-fangled automobile

The boys played marbles and mumbly peg
By the light of the moon that night
Billy Joe couldn't win for losing
We all knew he was none too bright

Preacher Cook called the square dance
As the youngins stomped the dust
The Maynard sisters sat on the porch
Rocking all the babies that fussed

Junior and Jerry and Clifford Rose
Turpentined the neighborhood mutt
Granny Thacker spit and laughed so hard
We thought she had busted a gut

When Carl and Dennis set off a firecracker
Uncle Howard grabbed hold of his chest
Doc Bentley checked him out and found
It was gas, not a cardiac arrest

Our little corner of the world was swinging
The next day, it looked a sight
Yep, that coal camp was really jumping
On that Johnson Bottom Saturday night

Kathleen McCoy Eldridge©
August 31, 2009
All Rights Reserved