Jes’ Wonderin’!

I WONDER if they’re bitin’ way off yonder in the bay!
I wonder if they’re fightin’ very hard t’ git away!
I wonder if they’re hungry, an’ would grab a silver spoon
Th’ way that I remember they used t’ do in June!
I wonder if Ole Daddy’s caught his big one yet this year;
An’ I guess the boss is wonderin’ why I’m sittin’ idle here.

I wonder if the lily pads are just as thick t’day
As what they were in by-gone times when I was on the bay!
I wonder if my favorite spot right now is occupied
By some one else, an’ if it’s come t’ be a stranger’s pride;
An’ if he knows its secrets, too, an’ holds ’em just as dear,
An’ if the boss is wonderin’ why I’m sittin’ wonderin’ here.

I wonder if the gulls fly ’round the way they used t’ do,
T’ grab the minnows now an’ then that in the bay I threw!
I wonder if I still could cast as true as what I did
When I could land it every time where some big one was hid!
An’ O, I wonder if the day will ever come again
When I shall hear a singing reel, the way I heard it then.