Mary
A life lived
When Mary was born in 1934
three pregnancies had come before,
from which two children had entered the world;
one little boy and one little girl.
The boy, named Alfie, died aged eight,
and the girl, named Pheobie, shared his fate.
Such were the times and conditions of life;
‘30s poverty brought such sorrow and strife.
Mary grew to be the eldest of ten
and it’s true many shared but the one bed.
At their home in ‘Poverty Knob,’ they grew up;
they were lacking in money but not in love.
Phil went to work, Nora took care of their home,
and to school, by then, even poor kids could go.
Many a time our Mary was caned,
yet it’s something of which she never complained.
The years flew by and soon Mary was grown;
time for Mary to find a job of her own.
In a cafe she worked, and with legs like Betty Grable’s,
the young men were flocking to sit at her tables.
Two men did fight for our Mary’s attention,
but there’s something about one we really must mention;
Jack was a looker and on Mary keen,
and Jack, in the army, a boxer…
