I shared a poem written by my 2nd great grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford. While discussing this poem with my cousins, one shared a comment about his having a copy of Josie’s ledger of poetry. This comment reminded me that I have the actual ledger. In remembering this ledger, I realized that I hadn’t done enough to share with future generations.
When the Internet was young, I did transcribe some of these poems and contributed them to the Kansas Memory project. However, I did not submit all of the poems. Evidently, I also had never scanned the ledger. I have since scanned the ledger and created a document with the scanned image on the left and the transcription on the right. This PDF file has been uploaded as a memory to Josie Hammond’s profile on FamilySearch. I’ve also uploaded Josie’s Ledger to Archive.org. Thus, I’m hoping that her ledger will be preserved well into the future.
Previous posts:
- Josie’s Poetry
- Our Golden Wedding
- The Call of the Road
- Armistice Day
- Answer to the Playhouse Under the Porch
- Come on, Pal
- Mercies
- Just Thinking
- Lines to a Friend on Her Birthday
- The Little Gray House
- Written for Circle No. 7 ME church
Song of the Wheels
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Over the rails we go
Clickety click, Clickety click
Westward – westward. Ho
We’re speeding o’er the rolling plain
With wheat fields far and wide
Richer than Coronado’s gold
Spread on everyside.
Clickety click, Clickety click
Merrily on we go
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Westward – Westward Ho
We climb the mountains steep and high
In Raton’s tunnel hide,
Then out “into the sun” again
On the western side
Clickety Click, Clickety click
Over the rails we go
Clickety Click, Clickety click
Westward Westward Ho
We twist around the rocky curves
In the canyons deep.
Down Glorietor shoot the chutes
Then slowly upward creep.Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Over the rails we go
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Westward, Westward Ho
We’re going west to see the sea
Where land and water meet
And the bathing beauties fair
Never even wet their feet
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Merrily on we go
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Westward, Westward Ho
When we have gotten clear out here
At the behest of man
We have to turn us right around
And go back East again.
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Over the rails we go
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Eastward, Eastward Ho
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Merrily on we go
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Westward Westward Ho
Then o’er the desert wide and dry
With sandy river beds
That often ragin torrents are
From snow in the watersheds
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Over the rails we go
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Westward Westward Ho
Then we climb the Sierra’s high
And on through El Cafon
The only word that rhymes with that
That we know is RatonClickety Click, Clickety Click
Merrily on we go
Clickety Click, Clickety Click
Westward, Westward Ho
Then on into the sunny land
Where the lemons grow
Also oranges and grapefruit
And many kinds of “nuts” also
Clickity Click Clickity Click
Over the rails we go
Clickety Click Clickety Click
Westward Westward Ho
We’re going west to see the sea,
Where land and water meet
And the bathing beaues fair
Never even wet their feet
Clickity Click Clickity Click
Merrily on we go
Clickity Click Clickity Click
Westward Westward Ho
When we have goen clear out here
At the behest of man
We have to turn us right around
And go back East again.
Clickity Click Clickity Click
Over the Rails we go
Clickity Click Clickity
Eastward Eastward Ho
J.W.C.