Thursday, March 3, 2011

Better Off Me


POETIC ASIDES
asks us for a 'Better Off' piece.
and
THURSDAY THEME
http://thursdaythemesong.blogspot.com/


BETTER OFF ME
To be sung to the tune of 'What a Wonderful World'

Though I've had my day,
And I'm old and grey,
I look around and then I say,
From what I can see
I'm better off Me.

There is too much rain
And too much snow,
Too much wind when cyclones blow.
From what I can see
I'm better off Me.

See children in the school-yard
With things to learn each day!
Then see the poor young parents
With all those bills to pay!
See folk over the sea
Looking grim on TV!
That's when I'm glad
That I am Me!

Now I'd like to be
A Sweet Sixteen,
Be an eternal Dancing Queen,
But, since that cannot be,
I'm better off Me.
From what I can see
I'm better off Me.
*
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HISTORY REPEATING!

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave advice
That I've been turning over ever since.
For I've been forced to think of it far more than once or twice
Though, at the time, his wise words made me wince!
My father said 'Be a teacher! They're never unemployed!
In a Depression there's always work to do.
(I think he saw me bridle; I was really quite annoyed.)
' Jobs a that time were like diamonds; there were very few.
Why! I worked right through the thirties! I was never on the dole!
I took a cut in pay but that was all.
We always had enough for meat and rent and bags of coal,
While many workers' backs were to the wall!'
'Depressions' I said 'Were in YOUR time! This is nineteen-forty-nine!
There's so much work about we have a choice.
We modern people know that we have worked things out just fine!'
(I think a touch of scorn was in my voice!)
Still, I became a teacher as our parents' words were law,
Though I didn't really think of it 'for life'.
'Something else in the future' was just clutching at a straw!
(I'd be a famous writer or a wife!)
And teaching was quite pleasant. Why! I even had a flair
And many days were way, way more than 'nice',
But I sometimes felt a niggle for I felt it wasn't fair
That I'd been given so much dud advice.
But, recently, came the Credit Crunch and things were looking bad
And unemployment loomed, and jobs were few
And I said to my teacher son (an echo straight from Dad............)
'Teaching is great! There's always work to do!'
*

3 comments:

Hootin Anni said...

Wonderful!!!!

My link for today: Anni's Song

PS...I was born in 1949 by the way. And teaching IS great.

My Mind's Eye said...

What a beautiful post full of such lovely words and thoughts...you are truly talented. Any child you taught was indeed lucky.
I had a handful of teachers who made all the difference in my life.
I was born in 1949 too.
Madi's Mom

Kay L. Davies said...

Super, Brenda, both of them.
"What a Wonderful World" makes me think of Louis Armstrong, a favourite of my parents', my brothers' and mine.
And as for teaching - I was born in 1946 - there were kinds of advice in my youth, from relatives who wanted security for me and urged me to be a teacher, and the teachers who thought I was talented and should become a writer.
I tried writing for a living, but ended up instead in my father's trade - printing. I did try teaching, briefly, at a business school, but by then I was far too opinionated to follow the school's proscribed curriculum. Tsk.
There were always jobs for printers, too, until the newspaper industry became computerized. Then experienced printers were a glut on the market. Who knew?
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel