You be tellin' me how to live.

I be studyin', Miss, property
of flowers an' they be bloom,
an' they be wilt, an' they be
tellin' me how I live till to-
-day, in them, up an' down,
in them, crest an' tough;
I be studyin', Miss, the
property of stone, an' it
be tellin' me, how I got
by, all those many years,
against all bad weather,
I be studyin', Miss, all
them years, being meself
in flower, in stone, in sun, in
moon, in all them things you
say in the classroom, Miss,
you be tellin' me how to live.