´óÏó´«Ã½

By kind permission of the Author

Some shortages were fun, for instance coal.
My aunt burned books she’d hated all her life.
Granny wore five layers of wool and sat
With feet inside the fender of the hearth.
And we shared houses with our family friends,
Two mothers and four children in two beds,
In the double, mums and little ones
And we two in the single, all head to tail,
Toes in armpits, warming each other’s feet.
We did it house about. It saved on fuel
And laundry, seemed to make it easier
To cook more varied meals with what we’d got.
And in the evening, gathered round the fire,
All snuggled in a blanket on the couch,
Listening to stories and the radio,
We played games with words like — shortages.

‘This story was submitted to the People’s War site by ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Merseyside’s People’s War team on behalf of the author and has been added to the site with his/ her permission. The author fully understands the site’s terms and conditions.’

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.