When I Go Home To-Night Poem by Robert Kirkland Kernighan

When I go home a light will be

Upon the old veranda rail ;
The dog will bark, and I will see

The welcome in his friendly tail.
I 'll enter thro' the open door,
I 'll hark to hear the hired man snore ;
I 'll seek for apple pie in store,

When I go home to-night.

Behold the loaf of home-made bread ;

The dew upon the salad shines ;
Behold the snowy feather bed,

Beside the window dark with vines.
The old-time pictures on the wall
Will smile, and smiling, me enthrall ;



I 'll hear the familiar night-birds call,
When I go home to-night.

When I go home to-night, the horse

Behind the barn will say me ' Neigh ;'
I 'll go to see the pigs, of course,

And count the cattle o'er the way ;
I 'll plan to meet the chipmunk cute
The rascal knows I never shoot
I 'll hark to hear the kildeer toot,
When I go home to-night.

When I go home to-night, a calm
Will settle down upon my life ;

The lilac leaves will chant a psalm
To hush away the worldly strife ;

And in the morn, no whistles deep,

Nor trolley bells will bedlam keep ;

And I will sleep and sleep and sleep
When I go home to-night.