Black Cross (1948)
Black Cross (also known as Hezekiah Jones, after the main character) is a poem by Joseph Simon Newman, published in his 1948 collection It Could Be Verse!.[1]
Contents
Storyline
Black Cross was a story Hezekiah, a poor black farmer, who worked his two acres of land; but, he also saved up for and read books. The white folks thereabouts thought him harmless enough, but that "reading ain't no good for an ignorant nigger".
One Day, Reverend Green, of the white man's church, visited him and asked if he believed in the Lord, the church, and Heaven. Hezekiah replied, that he'd never seen the Lord; that the church was divided; and that he tried to be as good as he could without expecting anything from Heaven or the Lord.[2]
Verses
The full verses of Black Cross:[3]
There was Old Hezekiah Jones, of Hogback County.
He lived on a hill in a weather beaten hovel.
And all that he owned was a two-acre plot
with a bed and some books and a hoe and a shovel.
Old Hezekiah, black as the soil he was hoeing,
Worked pretty hard to make both ends meet.
Raised what he ate, with a few cents over
To buy corn liquor that he drank down neat,
And a few cents more that he put in the cupboard
Against what he called "the rainy season,"
But he never got to save more'n two or three dollars
Till he spent it for this or that reason.
The white folks around knew old Hezekiah...
Said, "Well, he’s harmless enough, but the way that I figure
He better put down them goddamn books,
'Cause reading ain't no good for an ignorant nigger."
Reverend Green, of the white man's church,
Finally got around to "comin' over
To talk with you-all about the Pearly Kingdom
An' to save your soul for the Lord Jehovah!"
"Do you believe in the Lord?" said the white man's preacher.
Ol’ Hezekiah puckered his frosty brow,
Say, "I can't say 'yes,' so I ain't gonna say it,
‘Cause I’ve never seen de Lord....nowhere....no-how."
“Do you believe in the church?” said the white man's preacher,
Ol’ Hezekiah said, “Well, er, ah, the church is divided,
If they can’t make up their minds, I can’t either.
So, I’m just like them,” say, “I ain’t decided.”
“Do you believe in Heaven?” said the white man’s preacher.
"Where you go, if’n you're good, for your last reward?"
"I'm good," said Hezekiah, "good as I'm able,
But I don't expect nothing from Heaven OR the Lord."
"You don't believe nothin'," said the white man's preacher.
"Oh yes I do," said Hezekiah,
"I believe that a man should be beholding to his neighbor
Without the reward of Heaven or the fear of hell fire."
“Well, there's a lot of good ways for a man to be wicked!”
And they hung Hezekiah as high as a pigeon,
And the nice folks around said, "well, he had it comin'
'Cause the son-of-a-bitch didn't have no religion!"
Performances
References
- ↑ Joseph Simon Newman. It Could Be Verse!. 1948. World Publishing Co. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- ↑ Black Cross (Hezekiah Jones). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
- ↑ "Black Cross". lordbuckley.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
