Hopping Off the Tram

   It would not stop,
   So I took a hop,
An’, Lard oh, my foot a miss!
   It sent me do’n
   Slam on de groun’,
An’ I had a dusty kiss.

   The car went ’long
   With its hummin’ song,
An’ I too went my way;
   But the sudden fall
   I did recall,
And shall for many a day.

Credit

From Songs of Jamaica (Aston W. Gardner & Co., 1912) by Claude McKay. This poem is in the public domain.

Author

Claude McKay

Claude McKay, who was born in Jamaica in 1889, wrote about social and political concerns from his perspective as a Black man in the United States, as well as a variety of subjects ranging from his Jamaican homeland to romantic love.

Date Published

01/01/1912