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All things are.....

All things are.....

 

All things are only by comparison

Years ago as a boy I played and stumbled

across the bombed ruins where I lived

It was all I knew and all I could see

The world was like an old sepia photo

we lived in a prefab built on a bomb site

My mother shopped with coupons as food was rationed

we took a rickety old pram to the coal yard

to bring home our coal ration

There was insufficient petrol for coal deliveries

My mother mended our clothes as they too were rationed

I wore old 'hand me downs' which were too big for me

Days, long days of austerity we endured

in the hope of better days to come

A car was out of the question

everyone cycled to work and the shops

Black, grey and a sooty white were the colours

which pervaded the scene

But we believed in a better future

 

Seventy five years later we now have food banks

warm banks, the ever present threat of no power

The future is grim and we are at war again

The dictators have returned to create more havoc

as many colours have faded and all is dark 

and dismal once again

Our leaders exemplify mediocrity

and possess a myopic vision of the future

They are exempt our state as they are well fed and well paid

The people have lost all faith in institutions

We have moved from the ruins of war

through wealth and plenty

only to return to misery and near poverty

All things are only by comparison

◄ The Ice was broken

Not yet Dead but Buried ►

Comments

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keith jeffries

Wed 4th Jan 2023 21:29

Thank you all for your 'likes' and comments. They are appreciated and a source of encouragement.

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Stephen Gospage

Tue 3rd Jan 2023 17:18

A very interesting read, Keith. I remember (sort of) back to the fifties and it's true that everything seemed to be black and white, or grey with limited colour. I wonder why? Perhaps people wore more drab clothes and things were painted in darker hues.

Thanks for this.

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Flyntland

Tue 3rd Jan 2023 16:17

I go back further than you Keith but I still have vivid memories of deprivation - poor food and little of it ( bread and Oxo - couldn't afford Bovril) no books - no toys and a severely limited education.
Doctors had to be paid for if you could afford it.
No, it was not a poor but happy time - it was depressing.

Hand carts of Nutty slack from the coal yard are more memories that I share with you., but brown and dark green are the colours that I remember, and everything dull.

We have indeed become weakened by the 'I want what I want and I want it now' mindset.

Life did improve but I am scared now at the horror that is the NHS. - dying in a corridor is no way to end a life.

Well written Keith I think that you got everything in there.

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Graham Sherwood

Tue 3rd Jan 2023 14:16

Horrifyingly, I have heard it said more than once that it needs another war to buck this country up!

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M.C. Newberry

Tue 3rd Jan 2023 14:13

These lines are indeed timely. Somehow, the offspring of a
hardy "make do and mend" generation became weak and
spoilt, with expectations that defied modest reality - as if they
feared losing what had been granted to them by the stoic
accomplishments of their forebears and finding themselves
having to meet similar unwelcome demands on their lives.
Society became easy prey to false hopes, seeking assurance
by lowering standards across the board - with mediocrity the new "excellence". Look at our government and those it
chooses to refer to - or reward with "honours". The strong have become weak and the weak strong.

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