We Didn'T Know

Dad had threatened for some time to reclaim the land behind the shed, where rubbish over many years, had stockpiled but now instead of being easy to be shifted; blackberries, docks and thistles grow, entwining history of ours - and you know we didn't know. Mum cracked the whip one Sunday handing out the different tools for us to shovel, fork, pick and slash; of course she made the rules. We weren't to stop until the rubbish had been cleared and left to show a barren space to be landscaped - and you know we didn't know. Johnny parked the truck close to where we’d easily load the tray. First we had to slash blackberries to open up a pathway. Old fencing wire and bent droppers; we pulled and tugged, the work was slow. Plus bits of motors; old oil filters - and still we didn't know. The 'old man' knocked a stump out I can't remember being a tree. It disintegrated into pieces; white ant workings I could see. Plastic pots and old fuel drums onto the tray we heave and throw. Just on half the plots been cleaned up now - and still we didn't know. A concrete trough and a mattress spring; mesh from an old birdcage. A kitchen sink broken in two and a pushbike at some stage. Sardine tins; a barrow bowl, and a seized up mower that won't mow, now there's just one corner left to clean - and still we didn't know. A stack of roofing iron near the fence; the last that had to go. One by one we dragged the rusting sheets - and still we didn’t know. Dad picked up the final sheet and quickly threw it down again. His face was white and ‘cripes’ he shook - we 'bloody-well' knew then.