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Transcription: [00:02:26]
{SPEAKER name="Interviewer"}
Coming up, Spoons, there in the plantation in South Carolina, how often did you hear other people recite poems or toasts?

[00:02:37]
{SPEAKER name="Horace "Spoons" Williams"}
Well, the times that you would hear most toasts would be like, uh, in the afternoon when you leave the fields.
[00:02:49]
Then all the farmhand had gathered round, like on Friday nights, and have Friday night fish fries.
[00:02:58]
And you rest can rest assured of the fact that most of the children were in bed and um, well, there was only certain ways that you could, you know, recite poetry.
[00:03:12]
You wouldn't do it when, uh, there was a lot of ladies around, you wouldn't do it when there were a lot of children around.
[00:03:19]
So like, men usually get to themselves and recite uh, uh toasts. But um, poems, anyone could sit around and listen to poems.
[00:03:37]
Because when you tell a poem it's, it's nice to listen to.
[00:03:43]
And in a sense of speaking, and then there are those who would automatically get away from you because poems are usually based on true facts.
[00:03:55]
And this is how, at least this is how I'd write mine.
[00:03:59]
{SPEAKER name="Interviewer"}
Perhaps it's better now rather than talking more about the poems to give an example.
[00:04:06]
Uh, why don't you do one of the pieces, Spoons? Maybe 'Black man talks to God' to start with?
[00:04:13]
{SPEAKER name="Horace "Spoons" Williams"}
Alright, this is one of the poems that, um, I never wanted to recite.
[00:04:23]
[[PAUSE]]
[00:04:26]
Because I was afraid of what, uh, the action might have been after reciting it.
[00:04:34]
And when I first recited it to Mr. Glandons [?] Senior he insist upon me reciting it to the public. 'Black man talks to God'.

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