Best Forties Poems
Along narrow streets,carol singing
Boxes rattling,lanterns swinging
A stocking hung for Santa to fill
waking too early was a thrill
Chicken killed as a special treat
Finding three-penny piece in our sweet
In England ,in our area at least this has not changed much in 60+ years
the 'chicken' maybe a turkey or a piece of beef even,the thtree-penny pieces are now 5p's
There is still street carol singing,albeit now for charity.
Anyone who has lived through them as I have,
Knows the Forties were the most memorial of all
Of the decades of the Twentieth Century
And surely the most vivid in recall.
Personally, they were the greatest of my life.
I was married in the year of Forty-One.
Then in March of Nineteen-Forty Three,
We were blessed with the birth of a new son.
Two daughters followed him in their own time,
One born in Forty-Five, and one in Forty-Six.
But intruding on the joys of my own life,
Was the world which was in a terrible fix.
Millions of Jews and others were slaughtered,
Although at the time we were mostly unaware.
In December we entered World War II
To fight Hitler and Hirohito, an evil pair.
Our young men went to war, the rest of us
Pared down our lives to help to win the war.
The barest necessities were all we had,
And we were proud to be giving more and more.
The Forties saw the first atom bomb dropped
On Japan by our own beloved country.
I would have begged Harry not to drop it had I known
But of course no one saw reason to ask me.
Despite the war there were many new inventions,
And we slowly climbed out of the depression.
We constructed bomb shelters in our back yards.
The horrors of war had left a bad impression.
There were block buster movies in those years
And television was just in its beginnings.
Rebecca, How Green Was My Valley, Mrs. Miniver
And All The King's Men, had coveted Oscar winnings.
Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole were famous.
Peggy Lee and Dinah Shore were heard.
These singers were featured and unlike today,
When they sang you could hear every word.
This is a small taste of the Forties,
I hope that I have made you understand
That everything was bigger during this decade,
War, rugged times, and big bang and big band.
Written 3/2/15
~Lost are our beautiful starlets in the early forties
In full garb, signs of their times, dancing tipping toe prancing their stance
Contrasting our times, no cleavage revealed , but legs were bare
For: Rick Parise
Contest Name: May I Have This Sijo Dance
A
high tea-
eaten off
American
cloth
Hopscotch
with whip and top
or marbles and five stones-
pastimes lost now in memory's
chasm.
Enough of being lazy all these years,
Get up and just do it!
It’s time to move your soul,
Get up and just do it!
Take your clothes off,
And look yourself in the mirror,
Hate yourself for those fatty layers,
Get up and just do it!
It’s time to change your habits,
Instead of turning to your alarm clock,
It’s time to clear that mental block,
Get up and just do it!
Stop throwing around reasons,
Stop considering circle a shape,
Stop pampering yourself mate,
Get up and just do it!
Enough of those bull,
Life is beautiful and short,
It’s good to strike the iron when hot,
So, get up and just do it!
Nothing proud about being fat,
It’s ugly absolutely unhealthy,
Pump up some iron; its worthy,
Get up and ing just do it!
The Big Bands of the forties, I loved them all
Glenn Miller, the Dorseys, Arty Shaw and Les Paul
They were so smooth
And quite raucous too
Collected their 78s, I certainly had a ball
The best Christmas gift I receive each year
Is love, simply pure sweet affection
What could possibly be more cherished than that
It's the meaning of Christmas on reflection
Too bad this feeling doesn't last the whole year
What a joyous world it would be
Dream on little fellow, you're a wee bit delusional
You're sounding like a nostalgic retiree
The world has changed and not for the better
It's just a personal opinion I quote
Gone are the days of warm Christmas visits
Bearing gifts under big overcoats
Each generation has it's own treasured memories
Today's kids will remember theirs fondly
But ask anybody from back in the forties
They'll say those were the best, by golly
© Jack Ellison 2013
Freezing slides on sheets of ice
Balaclavsa snug;
Finger mitts,snow-balling bold,
Playtime in the cold.
Satchels,desks with lift-up lids,
Pen nibs and inkwells;
Five-stones,conkers in the yard,
Before the lesson bell
Five stones
school caps
pooh sticks
film flicks
short back
and sides
mangles
oil cloth
braces
plimsole
dripping
and toast
satchels
school milk
cut-throat
razor
coal fires
and draughts
Betty Grable, Hedy Lamarre, Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner
Stars of the forties, how many can remember
What century am I from
Was in love with every one
Much too young but old now and wearing dentures
Swimming in an outdoor pool,
drinking from a fountain,cool;
Swings and slides in childish fun ,
summer picnics in the sun;
A Sunday Brassband trumpet call,
in open spaces enjoyed by all;
Bowls and putting on the green,
in the Vale Park 'the 'place to be seen;
Leisurely strolls and chat,
forties style,now so very 'old hat'.
Copyright © Brian Strand | Year Posted 2007
The ocean roars and waves do crash,
Endless blue, horizon smash,
A symphony of power and might.
A wonderland that's out of sight.
Sea foam dances, seagulls cry,
Seashells scattered, treasures lie,
Beneath a sun that's shining bright.
The ocean's beauty fills my sight.
But danger lurks in depths below,
The ocean's mystery, we'll never know,
Where creatures great and small take flight.
An endless journey, day and night.
Winding brooklets fill narrow streams
into rivers of my childish dreams.
We never thought of how smart we were
or where life would lead us
as long as it liked us
and then the baby was born,
scorn and derision
a black and white commercial
a break from the tedium
and talking of them
we couldn't be them when
we were too busy being
us.
(The race was always on.)