fifty years & other poems by james weldon johnson author of

III
From our lips,
And the tips
Of our fragrant _cigarillos_.
For life in the tropics is only a joke,
So we pass it in dreams, and we pass it in smoke,
Smoke--smoke--smoke.
Tropical constitutions
Call for occasional revolutions;
But after that's through,
Why there's nothing to do
But smoke--smoke;
For life in the tropics is only a joke,
So we pass it in dreams, and we pass it in smoke,
Smoke--smoke--smoke.
_Teestay_
IV
Of tropic sensations, the worst
Is, _sin duda_, the tropical thirst.
When it starts in your throat and constantly grows,
Till you feel that it reaches down to your toes,
When your mouth tastes like fur
And your tongue turns to dust,
There's but one thing to do,
And do it you must,
Drink _teestay_.
_Teestay_, a drink with a history,
A delicious, delectable mystery,
"_Cinco centavos el vaso, señor_,"
If you take one, you will surely want more.
_Teestay, teestay_,
The national drink on a feast day;
How it coolingly tickles,
As downward it trickles,
_Teestay, teestay_.
And you wish, as you take it down at a quaff,
That your neck was constructed à la giraffe.
_Teestay, teestay_.
_The Lottery Girl_
"Lottery, lottery,
Take a chance at the lottery?