Submitted to dVerse for Tuesday poetics, where we're challenged
to write suburban poetry. My thoughts went to the suburbs
of my early marriage, and to a kinder, gentler day. I fell
back into my familiar and loved rhyme and metre for this one.
****************
It was the prefab suburbs, our house came on a truck
They put it together in a single day, with any kind of luck
Our view was of the farmer’s barn, we were in an open field
He’d determined selling out would be the greater yield.
And so the streets appeared and marched in identical rows
With identical little houses, except for color, I suppose
Our street was full of dreams, obtained with GI loan
But we all knew in 30 years, they’d be our very own.
Soon the babies came along, we raised them all together
They roamed the yards in safety; no need for electronic tether.
They knew well that any mischief, be it this, that or the other
Would travel up and down the street, passing from mother to mother.
We taught them all respect, and to obey the golden rule
When autumn came, we dressed them up and sent them off to school
The big ones watched the little ones as they walked along the way
Yes, the world was safe and life was good, in that suburban day.
*****************
February, 2017.
Beautiful and gentle poem. It reminds me of the good old days, as we say. I really loved the rhyming!
ReplyDeleteAll those houses that could be built in a rush, yet stand against the tide of time is amazing... and it felt safe, it felt new... and probably changed with time.
ReplyDeletePeople loved "canned foods" then, too.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great capture of the prefab era and regimented suburbs that followed. Also love the 'safe' aspect you create of those days to as measured against later years
ReplyDeleteOh soo tenderly written!!❤️
ReplyDeleteThe suburbs remind me of safety and goodness as well.
ReplyDeleteYup, the burbs were a quilted patchwork of housing as a living organism all itself. I remember the 30 year loans. You could actually pay one off. That was a better time, thanks
ReplyDeleteLife was good, innocent and safe in those times ~ Good one ~
ReplyDeletelove the gentle, pleasant note all through...it speaks of a calmer and safer life the suburbs adorned...
ReplyDeleteNostalgic and gentle - a reminder that people used to have hope:
ReplyDelete'Our street was full of dreams, obtained with GI loan
But we all knew in 30 years, they’d be our very own'.
Before society was fractured, there were communities:
'Soon the babies came along, we raised them all together
They roamed the yards in safety; no need for electronic tether',
and, for some - not everyone - ,
'... the world was safe and life was good, in that suburban day'.
I remember how pleased my parents were to pay off their 30-yr. loan! We would play on sidewalks, in backyards, and at neighbors' houses :)
ReplyDelete