As a female growing up in the sixties
I owned two pairs of shoes, one black
and another brown, only one pair of boots
for the milking barn and the cows all had better boots
than mine. Pens and paper were expensive,
as were school books bought yearly
from wages earned milking morning and night.
I managed to avoid cigarettes, drugs, alcohol.
I labored so my hands and nails
were clean enough to not draw attention.
No polish, no manicured nails, no complaints
about washing the dishes, carrying out the trash.
To have what I did was fortunate, although
even the kids at the orphans’ home seemed to have more.
Homework and reading all completed
on the 45 minute school bus route.
Library books—I ate like candy
“but in those days//I was always hungry.”
last line from “Millay’s Hair” by Ann Townsend, poem-a-day@poets.org
8 thoughts on "As a female growing up in the sixties"
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you put great voice to struggle and implemented the last line courageously… great poem… have a great day!
Thanks, Michelle, for your close reading.
I love the matter-of-fact presentation
my favorite
Library books—I ate like candy
Yes, I like how in your poem the hunger was for something different than in Townsend’s poem.
Thanks, Gaby.
And I thought I was the only girl with just two pairs of shoes. But by cracky they got me through four years of college.
Loved the poem.
Bruce Florence
Bruce, I had an aunt who could only afford one pair of shoes when she got her first job after college; she found a pair that was half brown and half black and wore those every day!
No self-pity in this poem. Only the portrait of a girl determined to learn – hungry for knowledge! Excellent!