Saturday, February 18, 2012

A New Era


WEEKEND IN BLACK AND WHITE

A NEW ERA

Just an old-fashioned photo from sixty-five years ago,
But I see things in this picture that it doesn't really show.
It shows a young girl hiking; we can see she's Norfolk-bound;
We realise someone's called her and made her look around.
But it doesn't show the excitement or the heady novelty.
(The girl in question is, of course, a very much younger me.)
The world was changing rapidly and I was caught-up in it;
New freedoms were appearing every single minute.
This was a drab time, really, for rationing still held sway,
The whole world was still war-time grey, but maybe not so grey,
For there was full employment, War was a thing of the past
And memories of Depression were already fading fast.
It was an era full of hope, everyone felt so free,
To hitch-hike, as in this photo, or to travel across the sea.
And take a look at the trousers! I had cut them short 
From a pair of old-fashioned slacks, of the thirties sort.
I'd never seen pedal-pushers; these were my invention!
And my parents had  agreed to them, without too much dissension!
They even let me hitch-hike, for there was little crime!
All in all, it was a very blessed sort of time.
And now that I am elderly, the memories seem clearer,
And I am happy that I lived in such a special era.
*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

BETWIXT AND BETWEEN
(A very short story about the above illustration)

I do wish Lance wasn't bi-sexual!
Life is so hard when one's gay!
Rory's so green he's not noticing
Lance is having a feminine day!
*

No comments: