A CHANCE MEETING IN TOWN
One late morning , early afternoon , long agoI founded my self talking to an elderly woman , widowed
More listening , than talking , hard to say how it came about
A spontaneous conversation , I guess you'd call it
The old lady talked , and talked , of when she was young
Of when she had a job on trams as a clippy , checking tickets , given them out
When this was hard to say during war times , or during the general strike 1926
May during World War One , when woman got to do work meen only fore men
Men went off to war , so woman needed to do their work
A time she remembered with a smile , happy memories recalled
A short time of independence , free from mother and father , working , her own
Money!
It was not to last , just for the duration of the times then
Met a man , marred , as was the custom then , she remained in the matrimonial
Home , has was the custom in those long ago times , affter marriage
In the kitchen , a woman's place , as a housewife , housewife duty's all day long
As she talked , I listened , I took in what she had to say , took in the way she
looked , cloths had seen better days , brown shoes , broken , needing repairing
Better , a new pare , a pitcher of a pensioner struggling , to get bye
All the time she talked , she smiled , with a far away look in her eyes
She talked about her wish to live just to next birthday , her only last
Remaining aim in life , was that she died at the age she would prefer to be
She was not sad or depressed , just happy to talk , me not saying anything
Just a willing ear and mind , that listened
We smiled , wished each other a good day , then got on with our lifes.
Ken D Williams
The Dyslexic Wordsmith
Poetry by ken d williams
Read 506 times
Written on 2013-07-16 at 11:59
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