MAKING PROGRESS

[Maureen K Clifford]

MAKING PROGRESS ... Maureen Clifford © THe Scribbly Bark Poet


“I love God and my country,
I honour the flag,
I will serve the Queen,
And cheerfully obey my parents,
teachers and the laws.”


Do you remember early mornings with the dew wet on the ground
when your feet were often cold and somewhat blue.
Do you remember standing to attention by the flag
as you swore the oath each day. Hearts loyal and true.
Then class by class – heads high, backs straight , marching into school
to strangulated sounds from the school band,
with a great clashing of cymbals and pounding of the drum -
the same routine in each school right across our land.

Do you remember blackboards on which you wrote with chalk
and cleaned with an eraser every day.
A hundred lines at big lunch – 'I must not talk in class'
No play time with your mates – well not today..
And school milk warm and often sour from standing in the sun
in the wooden crate outside the classroom door.
How tuck shop was but once a week - you put your order in
a paper bag with sixpence – if you were not poor.

'Once two is two, two two's are four, three two's are six' was heard
from every classroom - ringing like a gong.
And spelling bees – I quite liked them – in fact I still like spelling
but you got the cuts back then if you spelt wrong.
But who remembers parsing? I never knew what it was
back then and still don't have a clue today.
Geometry and algebra were a mystery to me,
those fractions never held me in their sway.

I did alright at reading, compositions - writing too
though the dreaded punctuation was elusive
and guess what - no prizes here –it's still the same today;
but it seems to matter not for few folks use it.
Home Ec, domestic science and child craft classes we took
and these were I suspect not to my liking
in fact I still have somewhere after fifty years the book -
but only had one child so in Child craft I was piking.

Pictures inside a scrapbook of babies, nappies, teats,
and Mothers wearing aprons over dresses somewhat formal
with flared skirts, shirt waister style. Pearls and high heels
they are nothing like the Mums today, in fact they seem abnormal.
And in another decade maybe less and perhaps more
it will change again and our kids will be thinking.
Do you remember how we used computers long before
they did it this way – Using minds, clairvoyant linking.

Hide, parchment, slate, paper and ink,
and every day our world is shrinking
computer print outs, world wide web link
fast progress with progressive thinking.

[Neville Briggs]

The good ole days