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Winter school holidays—my two great-grandsons are in town to stay with their Daddy. I take them, as I do every year, to the movies. And then we go shopping—a few clothes and always a pair of brand new shoes.
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early spring
following a plow barefoot
planting potatoes
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Times were hard. A large garden plot near the house supported the family. But in order to stretch the budget just that bit further my father grew seasonal crops. If we were big enough to bend and pick up a potato, we were big enough to put it in a sack. Some years we planted onions on the shortest day of the year. On the longest day, we helped our father and siblings harvest them. Another time the crop my father planted would be peas. He would provide much of these harvests to the grocers in the two local townships. But on occasion, he dealt these vegetables to his neighbours for items of use for his family.
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carried to bed—
new second-hand, toe-worn
shoes and tears
.
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by Benita Kape
Gisborne, New Zealand
3 comments:
Very nicely done Benita - I'm so pleased to see you here. My mother has memories of hard times during the Depression - the same "gift" for Christmas year after year (a doll rewrapped) - but she doesn't often share them.
Our experiences make us who we are.
Thank you so much for your kind words. I have found Haibun Today and the firm, but always helpful, editing that Jeffery gives most encouraging.
I have to admit that this was after the depression; mostly during the war. But we were a large family and things were most diffcult for my parents from the period of the depression right through to the 1950's.
Grandad Benno....much loved by his whanau...RIP . Your memory lives on in our hearts and is passed on through our Grandchildren.You taught us much...loved us much.
Sauerkraut in the shed...German Sausage..Lettuce, carrots so big...Always right Grandad !!!
Never throw anything away..tins ,iceblock sticks,string and brown paper....we may need that one day !
Miss you old man..miss you often.
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