NHS, rationing down to the wire
Ice inside windows, coal on fire
Pneumonia, TB, polio, croup
Diphtheria, measles, could cut you from the loop
Nobody turned up their nose at food
We ate what we got, be it bad or good
The wireless, marriage, local shops
The butcher's van bringing mince and chops
Trams and the odd horse clip-clopping
Payday envelopes where cash was king
No cold calling, internet, junk mail
Milk deliveries, in bottle, not pail
GP visiting any time at all
Low crime rates, ethnic groups were small
Wringers, mangles, washing by hand
Knitting, darning, women's time was planned
Lino polished, and a tin tub bath
Grace at mealtimes, comics for a laugh
Chanting the alphabet, pen nibs in ink
The 11 plus sorted out those who could think
Aniseed balls and swapping stickers
Of angels, footballers, babes in frilly knickers
Paper chains, marbles, conkers too
Leather schoolbags, the tawse on view
Ticking clocks and the sack jump race
Hula hoops. Leap frog, Journey into Space
Childhood innocence, sex kept hidden
Shut up, sit up, and do as you were bidden
Pre-teens Elvis, Skiffle and pop
Lonnie Donegan, jazz and bop
Tommy Steele and the Everley Brothers
Frank Sinatra, scores of others
Uncle Mac's Children's Favourites show
Everest conquered in a land of snow
Beehive hairdos, winkle picker shoes
Mary Quant, and with London in the news
The Sixties: the Twist, Beatles, J.F.K. killed
Women burning bras, how our music thrilled
Smoking was cool, The Rolling Stones
Scored high, Dylan's songs got into our bones
Hippies, the pill, Coca-Cola, Vietnam
Flower Power, Women's Lib, miniskirt glam
The Seventies!Hot pants, bell bottom flare
Afros, Abba, disco everywhere
Godfather, Clockwork Orange, Rising Damp
Grease, Dad's Army, stars quite camp
IRA bombs tore families apart
Strikes and austerity struck at Britain's heart
MacDonald's, KFC, joggers pounding past bars
Into the Eighties, leg warmers and wars
The Falklands, Lockerbie, Lennon was shot
Brixton riots, feelings raging hot
Beggars in shop doorways, graffiti, crimes
Glue sniffing, Thatcherism set the times
Inspector Morse and the Hill Street Blues
The Cosby Show…now, who'd walk in his shoes?
Rolex watches, large shoulder pads, tight jeans
The Nineteen Nineties, changed our viewing screens
CCTV surveillance all around
Diane killed in the Paris underground
An age of celebrity…the five minute wonder
Internet shopping, main street shops gone under
ASBOs, political correctness brigade
The nanny state, drug use, our bright word frayed
Into the twenty first century
Swine fever, unemployment, BSE
September 11th when the twin towers fell
Suicide bombers and atrocities from Hell
Afghanistan, Iraq, the phone hacking story
Gay weddings, hunting bans, Memento mori
We baby boomers, like an autumn tree
See our peers succumbing to mortality
Dementia, Alzheimer's, Diabetes two
Stroke, Cancer, Heart Attack, are coming for you
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
An historical poem has been so nicely and touchingly inscribed. Beautifully penned. Nice penmanship. Thanks for sharing.10