Bills were balloons
inflated fatter
than our income.
Payday was a hungry
week away. The fridge
wasn’t empty
but contained
mostly condiments.
For supper
we broke
into the kids’
piggybanks
and bought hotdogs,
chips and dip, then
spread a blanket
in front
of the open-faced
woodstove,
cooked our dogs
on sticks,
and had a picnic.
and the memories i am sure fonder than those of the times when things were plentiful.....
ReplyDeleteI think I've complimented you before with a ref. to W.C. Williams. I do like your poetry. It's spare, down to earth, and works.
ReplyDeletePS: I'd like to invite your participation in an on-line workshop. My email is rwellsrwells@mac.com. Please drop me a line if you'd like to know more.
ReplyDeleteAnd what a memorable event it would have been, not touched by affluence, which takes so much humanity away.
ReplyDeleteLovely.
In a similar situation we bought day-old bread and bread-and-butter pickles and went car-camping - all six of us sleeping in the dry car surrounded by rain and with breakers pounding on the rocks below the spot our car was parked. The (now-grown) children remember it as one of our best weekends!
ReplyDeleteOur fondest memories are concerned with the emotions, not with the material life.
ReplyDeleteVery nicely worded. I like the conciseness and the lack of sentimentality.
ReplyDeletedo you believe if i told you that i have been there?
ReplyDeleteMy dear friend,
ReplyDeleteI liked the wordings written by you.i liked the 2nd para- ''payday was.......piggy banks''
thanks for sharing your lovely poem with us.
friend,
i have posted my 2nd poem in my blog.
please do read me
Azakamarina....
the human spirit always seeks to find a way...
ReplyDeleteI like the sparse way of saying it..
ReplyDeleteFor richer and/or poorer
I really like that!
ReplyDeletei really like your writing.. especially the first three lines for some reason.
ReplyDeleteand the end, the imagery in front of the woodstove, cooking hotdogs on sticks and having a picnic :) it's very nice and reminds me of "life is beautiful". always finding the little things that are still so enjoyable of the moment despite whatever hardships you may have..
Hi Linda!
ReplyDeleteI love your poem!
I think lots of us have felt our bills being like balloons inflated fatter than our income - well put!
Simple moments like an indoor campfire can be the most lasting and sweet. I remember as a kid we seemed to lose electricity with every thunderstorm, I grew to look forward to it since it typically meant a game of cards with candlelight!
Cheers & Happy New Year!
~Michelle
For richer or poorer...we tend to find the means, or may I say, they are put before us by One greater than us. The phrase should read, "for richer or poorer, but richer, nonetheless". Isn't it how it turns out in the end? Great poem!
ReplyDeleteMemories, sometimes I wonder how we all survived those old dark days, or was/is it all in my imagination.
ReplyDeletePS I noticed that they had Buffalo Wings on the menu at my local pub today. Small world!
I look forward to more of your delightful poems in 2009.
ReplyDeleteaside from the poem itself, i have to commend the line breaks here. really really appropriate. :-)
ReplyDeleteGosh, Linda I can relate to this! I like your poems, they are so reachable.
ReplyDeleteand one more thing Linda, that will be remembered as a fun indoor picnic and not we had no money so we raided the piggy banks...Mothers have a great way of making everything situation seem right.
ReplyDeleteSometimes its the simplest of things that we can be the most grateful for.
ReplyDeleteMy fondest memories are when we had so little and found fun in walks in the woods, playing games and having indoor picnics.
ReplyDeleteYou surely have gained the richness of life. Very Nice write!
ReplyDeleteHi Linda,
ReplyDeleteUpbeat, too the point and showing necessary survival skills. "stone soup"...I wish you could have made do without worries. (I'm assuming you worried because I've been there in childhood... and then again in adulthood and couldn't write about it today.) I especially liked the opening 3 lines of this poem.
oh, my parents needed to raid my piggybank...and more, but I understood-even when it was never able to be repaid.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful poem about a wonderful moment in time.
ReplyDeleteSpecial memories come from the most unexpected places. Wonderful poem!
ReplyDeleteAmazing memories were born!! Wonderful and really a very rich life! I remember counting coin for a perogy dinner with my hubby, 36 years ago. Then we were over....I'm grateful for that too!
ReplyDeleteWell done as always!
Hugs Giggles
been there, and you made it seem a place we wanted to be...
ReplyDeletePrfect post for this theme :)
ReplyDeletegood job !!
I remember these days and surviving until payday by eating free cereal samples from the grocery store! Your poem says it all with joy.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem!
ReplyDeleteAn utterly perfect response to the prompt. Well done.
ReplyDeleteJM @ WriteAnyway.com
This is great and it's warm-
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