Aunty molly's poem Part two.

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I remember, I remember
Sydney park where we used to play,
The little pond with sloping sides
Where Fred fell in one day.
The lovely scented flower beds
In every shade and hue
the happy hours we spent there
Neathskies of azure blue.

I remember, I remember
The little hut near the pond,
Where Lily Fred and I played
At “mothers and fathers”-united by a bond
Of great sadness,as little Eric lay so sick.
He died at midnight, and sometimes I wonder still
Should we have played so happily, knowing Eric was so ill?

I remember, I remember
My little baby brother,
We played together often,
But he was too quick for me,
And so i complained most bitterly
Especially to our mother.
One thing we shared together
Was Eric’s cuddly teddy bear.
He let me play with it a lot
but didn’t want my doll.
When Eric died I sadly missed
Both him and Teddy, but didn’t dare
Show to the family how sad I was,
They had so much grief to bear.
When Eric died, Teddy went
I never knew quite where,
And I deeply mourned them both
For many a long year.

I remember, I remember
The annual concert in the back yard,
Always organised and produced by Kathleen.
It was the highlight of our summer,
Arranged in three days and given after tea
On a summers evening to the neighbourhood.
It never rained!
Three pins or one safety pin
Was the admission fee,
These to fasten our theatrical costumes.
We raided the family dressing up box,
And Doreen lent a hand in making crepe paper dresses.
Kathleen made up and told us a story
Making sure we knew it well.
Main characters were always a witch prince and fairy
Lily usually the fairy and Vera Smart ( kath’s friend) the witch.
We dramatised it and " ad libbed"
No script to learn had we.

We cleaned out the bike shed for a dressing room,
Made a stage out of wooden boxes
And borrowed chairs and rugs from the house
For the audience.
Fred made advertising posters
To hang on back gate and wall.
We all made tickets.
Fred was gate-keeper with Eric’s help,
When the queue of children began to form,
Collecting the pins in a little box.
The concert began promptly with Kath as compere.
We recited poems learnt at school,
Sang solos learned at school or church,
We had no inhibitions,
I wonder how we dared.

I remember, I remember
Eric and I as “Babes in the wood”
Lying on a piece of matting
Waiting to be rescued by woodcutter Fred.
Suddenly I espied a spider
getting up, screaming and rushing away!
The audience clapped and called “encore”
While kath tried to explain above the din
that wasn’t in the play.

Sometimes we coerced Rex to play
Popular tunes on his mouth organ.
How the audience clapped and sang.
The concert finished with " God save the King"
And afterwards out came Mother
Serving homemade lemonade
And broken biscuits out of the shop
A happy time was had by all.

• 26 Oct, 2011
• 5 likes

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