( By Jan Phillips )
We were poor when I was just a kid
No fast food was on our table
We had to cook to eat instead.
My clothes were made from feed sacks
Hand crafted you might say
Not ready made as they are today.
It was really hard to see at night
Because we had no electric light
But we got along alright.
I had one pair of shoes to last me all the year
When they got too small the toes were cut clear
I would get a new pair the next year.
We had an outhouse to use in the day
And we had a bucket beside the bed for dark
That we had to empty every day.
The good old days were both good and bad
They are days gone by but I’m not sad
They made me as I am today and I’m okay.
A really enjoyable poem.Childhood reminiscences can often prove a tricky subject for a poem but you have masterfully avoided the usual pitfalls of glutinous sentimentality in this pared down,straight as a die,very physical account of what these days might seem to many to be ancient history. It is a tribute to your narrative skills that you have expressed what was everyday life for most people until fairly recently,so well within the confines of a single poem.
Thank you Louis. I seem to write better when I know the subject first hand.