Runnin' the Dawgs

(From "Backwoods People")

The hounds were whinin' and barkin'

as we pulled to the edge of White Road.

The beagles and us kids were excited.

At least, in us, it showed.

Earlier in the afternoon we packed some snacks

and filled the old metal Coleman chest.

Preparing for the nights outing,

we sprayed head to toe against pests.

Runnin' the dawgs in the summertime

came to be a rite.

Unc and Jess loaded the truck

about dark-time on Saturday night.

You see, the dawgs need to stay in shape

for the fall when the season comes.

But its too blame hot on summer days

for the hounds and rabbits to run.

So Unc and Jess ran em' at night

and they let us kids ride along.

Though it was hot we would build a small fire

as we listened to hound-dawg songs.

"Ole Whiskey Bottle's on the Jump!

They knew the voice of each dawg in the pack.

Jess appeared a bit worried

when Little Ann seemed to be fallin' back.

Unc would produce a bottle

of what he called "Dago Red."

Us kids weren't allowed to have none

but we'd sure laughed at the things he said.

"Ya'll hear Hot Rod? That's his name for a reason."

"I bred him purely to hunt."

"It took years of see-lec-tic breedin'

to raise his back and lower his nose in the front."

We listened, laughed, and learned a lot

on those Saturday nights of long ago.

Sometimes I hear those hounds singing in my dreams

Its a sound I am privileged to know.

Unc and Jess are both gone now.

Us kids are grown and scattered wide.

So I write this down to commemorate

runnin' the dawgs on Saturday nights.

Note: "Dago Red" is the historic term commonly used in the "Florida Parishes" of Louisiana in reference to locally produced strawberry wine. Most of the strawberries produced in the area were and continue to be grown by Italian immigrants and their decsendents. The informal moniker was originally used for homemade batches of the wine. The term continues to be used by the area's small vintners and is not considered to be derogatory.