Patricia walked in orthopaedic shoes

Patricia walked in orthopaedic shoes

And leg braces

She had chilblains

At least that is what it seemed to me

I never saw her stand in front of a fire.

Belatedly

Thanks to Jonas Salk

We all had polio shots

Lined up along one wall

Of the old school hall

It is long gone

Tommy Scott fainted

Whilst we waited

We were all scared of TB

Lockjaw was the first sign

Of rabies

Whooping cough

Took away little babies

We were told

Never eat gum from the floor

But we all shared a bottle

Jenny Thompson died at sixteen

Some kind of cancer

We could hear her scream

From across the street

She was a great skater

In winter

When ice covered the road

She would soar

Ice dancing she said

Before she was dead

We could do anything

Until bedtime

Before Horlicks, Ovaltine

Or a backhander

Put out the lights

The pit siren

Was a wake up call

To us all

Worse if you had loved ones

On the back shift

I lost a Grandad to a fall

Another one to black lung

My Mum’s dad

Never got to hear

His praises sung

For trying to save a friend

It was no compensation

My grandma took in

Other people’s washing

Scrubbed and whitewashed steps

To make ends meet

Ma’ sang for her supper

I can hear her now

‘We have never had it so good’

Was a catch phrase then

When I was ten

So many of my friends

Have fallen

In the intervening years

If I grieved them all

I would have drowned in tears

But here I am

Still going strong

As George Best said

With a long blond honey

And paper money

Strewn over the bed

‘Where did it all go wrong?’