Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Bessie the Waxes Poetic (or something like that)

I found a little gem at our local 2nd hand bookstore some time ago which is entitled Back-Door Neighbors by Edna Jaques, published in 1946. Edna (1891-1978) was a popular Canadian poet who beautifully celebrated the daily domestic life experience. I know our dear readers will love her poems which we will reprint on Creative Sandwich from time to time.
Enjoy!
Love,
Bessie
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Homey Things


I like an old tea kettle
Sort of singing on the stove;
Petunias in a window-box,
Cerise and pink and mauve;
An old dog dozing on the step,
One eye half opened like;
A little boy a-riding by
On an old red bike.

I like to hear the birds at dawn
Chirpin' for all they're worth,
Digging for worms and bits of green
In the fresh morning earth;
The breakfast fires being lit,
Their smoke ascending high,
Spirals of hope that daily rise
Into the morning sky.

I like a clothesline by a lawn
Where little panties blow,
Where kids with sturdy arms and legs,
Sleep and eat and grow;
The little homes of common folk,
Carpenters, clerks, and such,
The patient workers of the world
Who matter, oh, so much.

A little house with four square walls
A bird-house painted red,
A father going off to work,
To earn the daily bread;
The mother faithful to her task,
A cobbled walk and gate --
These are the things, which, added up,
Make common living great.

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