Poetry Pleases: The Summer Of '33
This poem is about Marjorie Shirley's memories of an eventful year, 1933. After her mother died of TB that year Marjorie's life went downhill. She was 11 years old at the time.
We are told we should not look back because Time is now
And we should treasure each passing hour.
Although a time in my childhood was filled with sadness and pain,
I remember golden days of summer with occasional showers of rain.
The Summer of ‘33 was memorable to me,
Made up of fantasy and harsh reality.
It began with the detached house next door.
You see, ours was a flat, like many more.
My upstairs window had my favourite view --
Their magical tree house and the garden swing too.
One day I was invited in.
I realise now their empathy. I accepted with a cheeky grin.
“Come into the tree house,” they joyfully cried.
My fantasy was realised once I stepped inside.
Sitting in the tree house! My happiness was sealed,
Reading ‘What Katy Did,’ ‘Little Women’ and ‘David Copperfield’.
My love of books and my joy in living
Began in that tree house with so much giving.
I am, indeed, most thankful for the Summer of ‘33.
But sadly came, soon after, the end of the child in me.
