Toasted Sandwiches (1958 style)
I pushed back the covers and dressed with speed,
Pulling on jumper and shirt together,
Quickly, to stay warm, for such was my need.
The Bangor frosts during winter weather
Were endlessly white, and cold, I agreed,
As we started the morning together.
The first of my tasks was to milk the cow,
Enjoy breakfast, then on my bike I rode
A mile to catch my ride, for that is how,
Tyres crunching on the frosty, gravel road,
I began my daily trip to school. Now,
The back of a ute was my travel mode.
From York Park at eight a.m. I’d depart
To walk to Launceston Technical High;
Through the swirling fog, through the city heart
To Wellington St, where in times gone by
My Dad and his siblings made their school start
In classrooms the Tech. High now occupy.
I was pleased to hear the school bell chiming,
Start of class and relief from fog and cold,
With hundreds of boys engaged in learning;
Opportunities to grasp and then hold,
To take into the adult world then looming,
During each period that did unfold.
However, winter had its own delight.
With friends I became a library aide,
At lunch-time. To appease our appetite
The electric bar heater was then laid
On it’s back to toast sandwiches, just right.
Indoors, warm, well fed, we thought we were made!
Bill Edmunds
September 2020.
Bill Edmunds 