← Poetry

The Tale of the Ju-Ju Man

by Ken Bradbury Robert.. I seem to be inundating you with stuff but this is my first night to sit down in a while, so... Did I send you this poem? I’d forgotten. If did, forget it. I’ve used it in contest and both won.. at the high school level.

Now sit down, child...No, don’t get up! I’ve had ‘bout all I’ll take. Just one more time I catch you runnin’ through the woods...why goodness sake! Don’t you know when the night gets thick, a boy like you could die? Ain’t chu heard ‘bout the Ju-Ju Man? Now listen! And don’t chu cry! These woods, they’s filled with awful things...like screech owls, snakes..just awful things! And worst of all...so some folks say is the awfulest thing you ever laid your eyes upon! It’s worse than boils, and bites of dogs...It’s worse than nightmares in your sleep! You go runnin’ through woods at night....And boy.......... You’re gonna see------ Sittin’ in a tree, in a sweet gum tree, in a sweet gum, tallyrum, rum-tum tree..Gonna see, gonna see in a sweetgum tree the Ju-Ju man tonight! He’s lickin’ his lips and yearnin’ for one young idiot child like you to come...Gonna see, gonna see in a sweetgum tree the Ju-Ju man tonight!

Once these hills knew a boy named Bill, just a fool young lad like you. His mama she warned him, “Don’t you go through the woods, little boy. That Ju-Ju Man in the woods little boy. Don’t go through them woods little boy,” But Bill, he was a fool.

And off he took to spite his ma, Just soon as she was sleepin’. And off he took through the woods that night, cause Bill, he was a fool! He’d not gone quite near half a mile when the air got still and the earth got queer. The leaves started shakin’ but there warn’t no wind and somethin’ down deep inside of him said “You’re a fool now, little Bill. You’ve gone too far into these hills. You better go back!” And off he took just as fast as his bare feet could go when out of them awful, fearful woods, came a sound from up on an old gumwood.

“Oh my!” said Bill. “I’m awful skeered. I wished my dear old Ma was here. I wish I done what I was told! I wish.....” But then his skin turned cold. Sittin’ in a tree, in a sweet gum tree, in a sweet gum, tallyrum, rum-tum tree..Gonna see, gonna see in a sweetgum the Ju-Ju man tonight! “Ju-Ju Man! Dat be you? Oh say it ain’t, but I know it’s true! Ju-Ju Man! Don’t kill me please!” And idiot Bill went to his knees.

And a breath as hot as furnace blast, a breath that made Bill choke and gasp...A breath that smelled of rotten oak and graveyard dirt, and rotten meat....A breath came rushin’ through the trees and Idiot Bill, he screamed out, “Please!.... “Please leave me be, you Ju-Ju Man! Please let me live! I promise, and...” But before he breathed again, the Ju-Ju man jumped down on him! “Haaa! Haaa!” screamed out that Ju-Ju man. “Haaa! Haaa!” Six ground hogs died of fright. “Haaa! Haaa!” The sound rang through the land and through the trees and through the night. Now Bill, he’s gaspin’ for each breath, we wet himself, he dreamed his death. The Ju-Ju Man got young Bill’s throat and raised him up and his eyes grew cold. “Haaa! Haaa! Got me one idiot boy! Haaa! Haaa! Got one young fool! Gonna tear your heart out for my supper! Gonna rip your liver to the seam o’ your butt!” And Bill, his blood ran cold and thin, His eyes near popped their sockets. He went and wet himself again ‘til the pee ran outa his pockets!

He squirmed and he wrestled and he wretched and he rolled and he screamed ‘til his lungs started bleedin’. He scratched and he clawed and he wiggled and he squalled and he twiched and he turned and screamed.

“Oh let me go, please Ju-Ju Man! Just let me go and I swear! Just soon as I say good-bye to Ma, I come right back to here! Then you can kill me if you please, and you can eat me, too! Just let me say my last good-byes to the Mama who loves me true!” “Huh!” said he, that Ju-Ju man. “Huh! Huh!” he growled at Bill. “I had myself a mama, too... She loved me some, but heck... What if I let you go right now and then you don’t come back? What if you’re tellin’ me a lie?!” “I ain’t!” and Bill went slack. “You got my word! Just let me go! Just give me half an hour! Just let me kiss my Ma one time and then I’ll come right...” “Now listen here!” said Ju-Ju man. “I maybe got a way. I’m gonna put my mark on so you’ll do what you say!” And then he stuck his hairy claw into poor Bill’s soft belly. He made a hole by pokin’ in his finger, black and smelly. “There now!” said Ju-Ju Man to Bill. “There now, I’ve marked you true. That hole that sits there in your gut will tell me which is you. The next young boy comes through my woods, I’ll grab his scrawny butt, and lift his shirt to see if he’s got markin’s on his gut. If you’ve a hole right in the middle, then I’ll know it’s you. And then I’ll have my supper, boy. Skiddaddle now! Shooo!”

And off ran Bill, with legs like fire, his feet them swamplands slappin’. And off ran Bill, and off ran Bill, and off ran Bill just laughin’.

He’d fooled the Ju-Ju Man alright...but never from that day on... Did he go once into those woods... His wanderin’ days was gone. And that Old Ju-Ju Man he looks, and he looks out from his tree. Just lookin’ for a boy with hole in his belly. Hey! What’s this here I see? Why lookee there, boy, at what you got right there in the middle of your belly pot. Just look at what’s lookin’ right back at me, It’s hole in the middle of your belly! Sittin’ in a tree, in a sweet gum tree, in a sweet gum, tallyrum, rum-tum tree..Gonna see, gonna see in a sweetgum the Ju-Ju man tonight! He’s lookin’ for a boy with a hole like yours, That his finger just fits in! Why go on out in the woods if you want! What’s that? You’re turnin’ in? Why somethin’s gone and made you sick! Your skin is almost white! Well, good night then, and just a word: Better sleep on your belly tonight.