Memories of Austerity

 

Married in the late summer of nineteen forty six

in a time of austerity and post war ruin

With little money to sustain them

they trusted in their love for each other

Rented rooms in the house of another

was all they could afford

An undamaged building in a sea of rubble

 

The scars and signs of war were prevalent

rationing of food a daily difficulty

The world about was a series of shades

blacks, greys and browns formed a dismal landscape

Cars were all painted black

everything was threadbare and lacked lustre

People uniformly dressed in dowdy clothes

 

Then came the prefab, a new home

hastily constructed on a nearby bomb site

It was new and full of light

in a corner of the kitchen stood a refrigerator

A new and brighter future had arrived

a motor bike and sidecar stood outside

Small gardens back and front for veg and flowers

no stairs were there to climb aloft

Old signs were removed which said

Air Raid Shelter, as no longer did bombs fall

Blackout curtains were exchanged for floral patterns

Hope sat on a sunny horizon which was no more to be flattened