Those Were the Days

By Silver Spun Sand

Wed, 20 Nov 2013
  • 1412 reads
9 comments
 

There were squeaky
wooden-gates
between backyards –
alleyways
where dogs dozed,
and prams
were parked...
prettily

old union jacks
covered
clapped out
iron-framed mangles
and gossip hung
in the air
like the smell
before rain...

clothes-lines
held up
with wooden props;
dusters and nappies
hand-me-down dresses
headscarves
and pinnies –
Sunday-best linen
vied for space.

Crept through
net-curtained
kitchen windows
the odour
of greens
and roasts
and simmering
damson jelly

till the clothes
were taken in
and the husbands
came home
between backyards
and alleyways
when those
were the days.

 

Certificate PG
Poem
Silver Spun Sand Poems
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Bee on

'and gossip hung in the air like the smell before rain.'  - that's beautiful. I love the way this poem, with such perfect description, walks us through the lanes back to a time when everything seemed somehow, hopeful and normal, looking back. I think this is really special.

Bee

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Thanks Bee...and so is your lovely comment;-)

Tina

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Very vivid, without romanticising. There was cheer and family life and neighbourliness, and openness about problems,  and access to the 'fresh' air which got lost in some modernisations. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Rhiannon, thank you, and you were so right about that family life and neighbourliness;-)  Something you don't get much off these days.

Tina

 

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

So descriptive. All the neighbourhood sights and smells. Reminds me of a children's book I used to read to my two called 'Peepo',by Janet and Alan Ahlberg, where the baby in her pram looks around at similar warm busyness. A lovely poem, Tina     Elsie

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

So pleased you enjoyed, elsie.  Many thanks for letting me know.

Tina

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

Hey thanks for that, Biggus.  More than appreciated.-)

Tina

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Oh Tina...I simply loved this poem,  bringing back the sights - sounds and smells of another era.  We might not have had much,  but what we did have,  we made the best of.  Really enjoyed.  Jenny.

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on

You never said a truer word, Jenny.  What we didn't have we usually made out of an old cardboard box;-)  Pleased like liked and many thanks for telling me.

Tina