I Remember, I Remember
A parody
By Ted Blowers
I remember, I remember
The street where I was born,
The grimy houses row on row
The curtains hanging torn.
The daily white-stoned doorsteps
The gaps beneath the door,
The winter wind that whistled through
Lifting lino from the floor.
The fever ambulance coming round
To interrupt our play,
Quick, hold yer collar, never swallow,
While it takes a friend away.
The loved ones with consumption,
Tucked up in garden shed,
Because they are contagious ,
Stay there living dead.
Plain brick walls just painted
No plasterboard or rugs.
The family pets included,
The mice and bloody bugs.
The ancient bog with cistern
Where you pulled a rusty chain,
The newspaper that was read in bits
And then flushed down the drain.
Skin that cracked on wind-chapped legs,
The boils upon the knees,
The scabies twixt the fingers,
On yer head the fleas.
Boots that all had holes in,
The chilblains on yer feet.
How we all loved Sundays,
'Cos we had a little meat.
I remember I remember
The school we did attend,
The nuns equipped with bamboo canes
Who often made us bend.
They seemed to get some pleasure
From making children weep;
Christ said "Suffer little children"
And his word they meant to keep.
I remember I remember
How the Germans came
And bombed us,
God bless men of their ilk.
It seemed the poor were needed now
So they gave the kids free milk.
Banished then were buck teeth,
Rickets, disease's of the poor.
Yes I remember I remember
To get a little justice
We had to have a war.
(E.T. Blowers, 1980)