Acme Wringer

ABC WEDNESDAY
http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/2010/07/is-for-addition.html
(Back to A again! Congratulations on a thriving meme!)

ACME WRINGER!

Now it's probably quite clear to you that this isn't a girl of six!

(If you haven't noticed you're really in a fix!)

He heads this blog, an injured man, an incongruity,

Simply because, strange as it seems, he reminds me of ME!

Now the tale of the Acme Wringer may seem far removed from him,

And the story of his injury was certainly more grim,

But the fact remains that I'm like him, very odd but true,

Because you see, as a little girl, I hurt not one arm but two!

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It happened like this..... a display was held of ' an up-to-date invention'.

The date was 1936 (I now am drawing a pension!).

My Mother and my Aunt were there with cousin Mike in tow,

When they saw the event was advertised, they thought that we should go.

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Exhibition of the time.

Until this time a wringer had always been worked by hand;

A very tiresome, tiring task, as you can understand.

Now came the Acme Wringer, worked by electricity,

And everyone was excited at this bold modernity!

Mike and I were naughty brats! We raced around unchecked!

The whole show was in danger of being really wrecked!

We chanced upon a Wringer which we lovingly regarded,

The man in charge had gone to lunch! The whole thing was unguarded!

It was rolling idly by itself as a sort of demonstration!

To two young brats this vision was an open invitation!

'Put your hand in there' said Mike. 'See if it goes through!'

I put one hand on the rollers! Then I foolishly put two!

Sure enough they did go through, but my arms went through as well!

Fortunately someone saw and rang a warning bell!

By the time assistance came my way my screams were very loud;

They drew the attention of my Mother, somewhere in the crowd.

When she saw my predicament she fainted right away!

To see her darling's arms like that .....rolling on their way!

Someone came with a hammer and broke the machine in two

And soon my poor little mangled arms were very much in view.

The setting had been 'Blankets' and I was a skinny child,

And so my injuries, I'm glad to say, were tolerably mild.

Still, I had to have time off school and I had to wear two slings.

'Silly girl!' my mother said.......among lots of other things!

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It occurs to me how different might, these days, be the situation.

Imagine lawyers rubbing their hands at the thought of the litigation!

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SOFTENING THE BLOW!

Hardly a work of art!

In a corner set apart.

Towels airing in the sun;

Just a chore and not much fun.

But, for softening the blow,

There's sun to shine and shade to throw.

Domestically, I am a slattern.

But I do respond to a pretty pattern!

*

By the way, the one that's grey

Is really meant to look that way!

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P.S.

Australian soldiers, 'lost' for sixty years, buried at Fromelles in France.