A Family I Knew Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

I knew of a family
In an unpainted small house
In the poorest part of the town
The man of the house
Had met his love, Maria
Together they produced 8 children
I wondered where they slept.
The oldest child's name was Kalle
And became my mother's boyfriend
The man of the house a made living
Driving horse and cart emptying
Peoples rubbish taking it to the dump.
He had beer in the cart
And sang when driving to the stable
Where he spent time grooming
The horse and feeding it.
He sat on a crate reading the papers
Which he could not do at home.
Still, he loved his Maria and I saw them
Holding hands, she had no teeth
"poverty" and had gone fat.
Yet it was a happy home we celebrated
Our Christmases' there.
Kalle, who liked to wear a suit
Got a flat with a toilet in another town
And we didn't see him so often.