Cash came in our hands
When I was seven years old
A few pence in wartime
My brother and I
Went to Saturday movies
And sat near the front
We'd holler and scream
At the Cowboys and Indians
And all the cartoons
What little we had left
Spent of lemonade powder
Licked out of our hands
Looking back today
Very little pleased a lot
I didn't feel poor
We'd go to the park
With river running through it
Wading in water
We would climb trees
Pretend we were who we weren't
All life was a game
We'd play in the woods
Pretend we were Robin Hood
And fish for tadpoles
Dad was paid Friday
In time for Saturday flicks
Didn't know we were poor
Image found at https://www.sunlife.co.uk/blogs-and-features/a-look-back-at-the-saturday-morning-pictures
It sounds idyllic. Now kids stay indoors looking at their tablets.
ReplyDeleteYou weren't really poor. Poor people are those who only have money.
ReplyDeleteBravo! We didn't have the flicks in the country, but the rest of it resonates with my childhood--"Very little pleased a lot / I didn't feel poor." In school, the differences stood out a little--but I am grateful for the 5 years before schooldaze.
ReplyDeleteYes, I so agree. I remember my grandpa would send me a shiny dime and I felt like a millionaire. With it, I could buy a popsicle, some penny candy and dubble bubble gum. Money stretched back then.
ReplyDeletethis brought bak memories of childhood well done
ReplyDeleteRichness comes by enjoying the world and exploring.. A fine poem
ReplyDeleteHappy memories of childhood. Well done!
ReplyDeleteVery little pleased a lot
ReplyDeleteI didn't feel poor
This best explains Hank's childhood too.
Hank
Blessed is the time when "All life was a game". I feel we all share this 'Feel' of childhood in your lines.
ReplyDeleteA rich life to be envied... I say. Would that kids these days grasped the richness of nature.
ReplyDeleteI love the line "very little pleased a lot." Change the emphasis slightly and the meaning changes. Well said.
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading this, O.E. I knew a city life like this existed but I never saw it. We were also dirt poor, Dad was a farmer, he share cropped one of his father's farms, the smallest, 120 acres. He farmed with horses and raised hogs and a few bovines and chickens who ate the crop. He didn't have a payday, Mom washed clothes at Grandma's, no movies for us, we wore shirts Mom made from feed sacks.
ReplyDeleteCountry folk like Susan above.
..
Your picture here was delightful. Grandpa gave my father a 1928 Ford Model A coupe for quiting school after the 10th grade in exchange for him working on the farms. When I was small I rode on the package shelf. I remember going to Grandma's in it on wash days.
Delete..
We look back with fond memories of our childhood and youth, simple orderly lives and certainly very little waste. I was the first in the family to get a driving license as my new job demanded it. Most people in England travelled by public transport in those days and unless driving was your job nobody bothered to get one and the test was not easy.
DeleteAs a kid so many things meant more than money. It's sad we have to grow up and face the truth of life. Money doesn't grow on trees. Lol!
ReplyDelete