A Family I Knew

I knew of a family In an unpainted small house In the poorest part of the town The man of the house Had met his love, Maria Together they produced 8 children I wondered where they slept. The oldest child’s name was Kalle And became my mother’s boyfriend The man of the house a made living Driving horse and cart emptying Peoples rubbish taking it to the dump. He had a beer in the cart And sang when driving to the stable Where he spent time grooming The horse and feeding it. He sat on a crate reading the papers Which he could not do at home. Still, he loved his Maria and I saw them Holding hands, she had no teeth “poverty” and had gone fat. Yet it was a happy home we celebrated Our Christmases’ there. Kalle, who liked to wear a suit Got a flat with a toilet in another town And we didn’t see him so often.