By Marilyn Jones, Schoolcraft’s Poet Laureate
Did you walk a mile to school?
Or prime the pump to get water?
Did you lower food in a pail
To keep it cool in the well?
Did you play with Grandma’s Button Box
On a cold, dreary day?
I did.
Did you look at pictures
On a stereopticon?
Have you wound up a Victrola?
Was a 5¢ ice-cream cone a rare treat?
Did you play rummy by the light
Of a kerosene lamp?
I did.
Did you sit in the row for your grade
In a one-room school?
Did you take a cold pancake or lunch
In a small, metal pail?
Did you sit and read the catalog
In a three-holer, as wasps buzzed around?
I did.
The 3 R’s: Readin’, Writin’, and
‘Rithmetic have served me well.
We have seen lots of changes, both
Good and bad. We have computers,
Cell phones and television.
Have I survived hardships, pain and
Heartaches? But have I been mostly
Happy, living an interesting life
With love and kindness from Kith and Kin?
Yes, I have.