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Take an hour from the morning,
pick a peach from the pile;
one kiss from the courtship,
one foot from the mile--

Eve took an apple, said it wasn't very much.
Eve took an apple, said thank you very much;
now I know how it goes
and see how it is--
He just don't like me taking anything of His.

Take an hour from the night,
won't get it back soon;
poison in the peach pit,
crazy in the moon.

Eve took an apple from a serpent in a tree.
Serpent had an angle, that's some geometry.
Eve ate the fruit,
tossed away the core--
if you want to see some skin, that'll cost a little more.

Take a peach from the pile
and the whole stack roll;
make you pay forever for the hour that you stole.
One kiss more, one kiss less,
stay for the dance
then take back the dress.

Eve tried the cider that she got from the well.
If Adam gonna watch, then she make him wear a bell.
Snake bit the man,
bird caught the snake--
cat catch the bird and give a little shake.

Take a dime on the dollar
and a foot for the mile;
get a little somepin somepin
just for a while.

Eve take an hour from the hourglass round,
Eve leave Eden say I'll see you around.
Adam write the book
with a broad brush black--
write all you want, but it won't bring her back.
_
Cree‑cree, Cree‑cree,
Papa Limbo,
Lè ou vini,
pa janm antre.

Papa Limbo,
tall and thin,
Creeping ‘round my house again.
Tip‐toe, tip‐toe,
can’t come in,
Salt and brick dust on my skin!

Metcha’ a man
inna’ crooked hat.
Sleeps all day with a one‐eyed cat.

Sings me a tune through his busted tooth,
’bout-a girl he lost
in a photo booth.

Jump, kid, jump.
Don’tcha fall.
Rusty nails
Rusty nails
stickin’ in a doll.

Gonna clap twice,
Spin a skirt around,
Listen to him moan like-a jail-house hound.

Trip that rope
hear his call
He’s still collectin’ girls for his picture wall.

Cree‑cree, Cree‑cree,
Papa Limbo,
Lè ou vini,
pa janm antre.

Clap two times,
spin about,
Papa Limbo,
you get out!

Red dust, white salt, slam the door,
Shadow can’t cross
my floor no more!
Jump Rope Chant (Creole) inspired by Shay Caroline Simmons https://hellopoetry.com/poem/5129264/from-a-sugar-bowl-womb/
From a sugar bowl womb,
came the World's Sweetest Girl--
Me.

I'm like a vision at lake side,
talking rot to the swans--
and oh how I do go
on
and
on.

I am formed of the frilly, the feminine, the fine--
thanks to old Daddy down the anthracite mine.

One step,
two step,
three step, five;
I'm made out of honey from an old bee hive.
Work bee,
fly bee,
sleep bee, then
sink that stinger if he tries it again.

Church on Sunday, Monday do the wash.
See if it sticks or scrubs right off.
Do you think I'm pretty?
Everybody does--

ask around,
ask Alice,
ask sweetly,
ask the swans.
brimstone jump rope chant

— The End —