Back then

Back then

I remember the good old days
We were all made of sterner stuff,
No home had central heating
My god it made you tough!

The toilet was in the garden
We had to trudge through the snow,
I always held it till the last moment
I really didn’t want to go!

We had no light to pee by,
a big gap beneath the door
On a string were squares on newspaper
Well, you can guess what they were for.

But, people were much nicer then,
no Jones’s with which to compete
neighbour shared with neighbour,
it was the same in every street.

Family all lived close at hand
We knew everyone around,
The men could all walk to work,
No one moved to other towns.

Kids only got presents twice a year
On Christmas and their birthday
Money was much tighter then
It wasn’t to be thrown away.

As soon as snow fell in our street
It was the men folk’s task,
To shovel it from pavements
No one ever had to ask.

Our mums would do the shopping
For the ‘old dears’ round about
They checked up on each neighbour
No one ever went without.

Vicki Homan x