Of Times Past

Whatever happened to the values of yesteryear, a time of caring and consideration

For those times are not so far gone, an era of humanity, benevolence and adoration

Yes they seemed to be simpler times, but generally omnipresent, was mindfulness and trust

For the law and your neighbour's property and the respect for one's school teacher, definitely a must

Adolescent games like tag and hide 'n go seek and eavy ivy over

And everyone had a mutt of a dog, named “spot” or “rex” or “rover”

TV's were rare, but no despair, everyone's huddled, listening to the radio

On Saturday if you did your chores and cleaned the floors, you'd go to the movie show

An allowance of twenty-five cents and with that hence, the admission, popcorn and a drink

And on the way to the movie theater, ah the bakery aroma and of pies and pastries we'd think

Sunday morning was a time for prayer and then and there, off to our place of worship to pray

Grandma would be leading the pack and after mass, for ice-cream sundaes she'd pay

The egg lady visited on Saturday morn and she would leave a dozen or two

If there was no money to pay for the eggs today, then paying next week will do

The milkman delivered milk pretty-well daily, in the top of the bottle the cream was separated

In the winter-time we would scoop off the top, enjoying the treat the freezing temperature created

The breadman delivered bread twice per week, the enclosed wagon, meandered the neighbourhood

At times a surprise, but normally bread, doughnuts and pies, the aroma permeated the wagon's wood

There was no way to mask-it the aroma of bread in the basket, now time to feed the breadman's horse

The wagon needed no gas, the nag, hand-fed it some grass and my reward, a free doughnut of course

The iceman who seemed big as an ox, filled the top of the icebox, with a hundred pound block of ice

The meltwater would leak into a tray, we'd empty it every day and he'd deliver every week twice

A summertime treat we kids would chase him down the street, with his icepick he'd chip off a piece

With a big chunk in our hand we thought this was grand, gradually wetting our fronts by slow release

The coalman hunched over toting huge bags and clad in dirty rags, hands and face black as black

If money was short a bag we would sport, to pick up coal along the steam locomotive's track

With very little funds in one's stash and having to pay cash, for with no money, most did without

Things at times they were hard but in the backyard, it was fun, watching the vegetables sprout

No computers, no cell but no one did dwell on the fact, the party-line had one long and two shorts

Nosy neighbours listened in but that was no sin, suppose for them, they'd get their daily reports

No texts to edit and definitely no cards of credit, but everyone seemed to have what it took

And if you didn't have the cash to buy that table or couch, all you could do was look

Prom queens and sock hops for the teens and of course, all these functions chaperoned

Most people lived within their means and few mob scenes, respect and dignity home-grown

Now it's up to you to think it through, about the present times and how long will these times last?

What the heck muse for just a sec', people were more scrupulous and honourable, “in times past”