"HAPPY DAYS"
LOTS OF MILLS WERE COMMON.
MANY YEARS AGO.
SO HERES ANOTHER STORY.
FOR YOU TO ENJOY SO.
THE RAG MILL WAS A PLACE BACK THEN.
WHERE PEOPLE TOOK OLD CLOTHES.
FROM JUMPERS TROUSERS ANYTHING EVEN OLD WOOL THROWS.
YOU HANDED THEM OVER FOR WEIGHING.
TO SEE WHAT THEY WERE WORTH.
THEY WOULD GIVE YOU A FEW ODD COPPERS,
BUT YOU THOUGHT YOU'D GOT THE EARTH.
THEY THEN PASSED ON TO THE WOMEN.
WHO WOULD CUT THE BUTTONS AWAY.
WHEN THE CART WAS FULL THEY WOULD TIP THEM OUT.
IN THE FIELD WHERE I LIVED EACH DAY.
MOTHER WOULD ASK US TO GO THERE.
TO GATHER UP WHAT WE COULD.
SOME WERE MADE OF METAL.
OTHERS WERE MADE OF WOOD.
GLASS ONES ALL PRETTY COLOURS.
BLACK ONES TOO WE WOULD FIND.
ANY SORT WOULD DO SHE WOULD SAY.
SHE REALY DIDN'T MIND.
THEN MOTHER WOULD PUT THEM IN A BIG PAN.
ONTO THE FIRE TO BOIL.
SO THAT THEY WERE STERALIZED.
REMOVING ALL DIRT AND SOIL.
THE NEXT JOB FOR ME WAS THE SORTING.
ALL COLOURS BRIGHT AND GAY.
RED ONES YELLOW ONES BLUE ONES.
AFTER SCHOOL I DID IT EACH DAY.
BOILED AND CLEAN WE WOULD PLACE THEM.
IN VARIOUS JARS AND TINS.
THE ODD ONES THAT GOT BROKEN.
WE THREW OUT INTO THE BINS.
WHEN THEY WERE ALL SORTED.
WE WOULD PLACE THEM ALL IN A LINE.
MATCHING UP SETS FROM ALL OF THEM
AND THREAD THEM TOGETHER ON TWINE.
MOTHER WOULD THEN START SEWING.
AND KNITTING GARMENTS GALORE.
FOR ALL THE KIDS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.
BECAUSE LOTS OF THEM WERE POOR.
THE GARMENTS THEN ALL FINISHED,
SHE'D SAY GET OUT JARS AND TINS.
TO CHOOSE A SET OF BUTTONS.
TO SEW ON THE COMPLETED THINGS.
NOTHING WAS EVER WASTED.
THERE WAS A USE FOR THEM ALL.
EVEN THE BIG LARGE BLACK ONES.
SHE SEWED ON MENS OVERALL.
I LOVED TO GO TO THE BUTTON FIELD.
WHEN I WAS JUST A KID.
TIMES WERE HARD IN THEM DAYS.
BUT HAPPY WITH THINGS WE DID.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT A BUTTON.
REMEMBER MY RHYME IT'S TRUE.
WE NEVER HAD ON OUR GARMENTS.
A BUTTON which WAS BRAND NEW.
EVERYTHINGS TAKEN FOR GRANTED.
TODAY IN THIS DAY AND AGE.
ALSO TOYS AND ALL OTHER THINGS.
WHATEVER BE IT THE rage .
KIDS CAN HAVE THERE SELECTION.
OF WHATEVER HAS COME THERE WAY.
BUT I BET THEY DON'T HAVE HALF AS MUCH FUN.
AS WE DID IN OUR "HAPPY DAYS"
Astoriasand http://journals .aol.co.uk/astoriasand/MYSIMPLERHYMES
