IN THE CANEFIELDS
A Poem
by Austin Mitchell
I remember carrying sugar canes
Yes, carrying sugar canes
From the fields to the mills
And from the hills
Watching my father in the fields
My grand uncles as they reaped the canes
And we would heap up those canes
And take it from the fields
My grandmother and my mother
Cooking those large meals
Oh, how we enjoyed those meals
From my mother and grandmother
And the workers carrying those large bundles of cane
And us carrying our small bundles of cane
But what I enjoyed most of all was the food
We just couldn’t get enough of that food
It was fantastic food
We called back two or three times
For more food
Yes, two or three times
Then we were off to the fields
To cut and move the canes
Out of the fields
The food energized us to move those canes
Unfortunately, the canes are no longer with us
No trucks moving canes again
Not in these areas again
And the old people too, are no longer with us