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)