Classic Poem

" Next, Wilmington! " That name it blew
To passengers the whole train through;
For there we skipped from the low, lean cars,
And climbed high stools at the Depot bars;
We found lunch ready, and out we drew
A little cup custard and an oyster stew.

That custard was so soft and sweet,
It seemed just fit for a bird to eat;
That oyster stew, with its butter and milk,
It warmed our gullet like cocoon silk;
Right to us travelers an angel flew
With that little cup custard and the oyster stew.

That girl that never before I knew,
She smiled at me o'er her oyster stew;
That little cup custard lit my eye
To her oyster palate to smile reply;
We ate and we looked, with our eyes " goo-goo, "
The little cup custard and the oyster stew.

And the locomotive shifted, too,
To get some custard and oyster stew;
Oh, how it wheezed till the tender poured
And the old conductor cried " Aboard! "
The whistle surely the taste it blew
Of a little cup custard and an oyster stew.

They stop no more where we had such fun
On the old brick pavement at Wilmington,
Where everybody sat on a stool,
Like the senior class in a cooking school,
And down distilled all our tenders through
The little cup custard and the oyster stew.