Uncle Bob
(See Photo below.)
Robert Lee Polston was known
By our family as "Uncle Bob".
He worked and toiled hard
At each and every job.
Farm labor and daily chores
He definitely did not fear.
When he came to live with our family,
It was the summer of the 1930 year.
Three times daily, he drew fresh water
From the deep water well
By cranking and winding a bailer
That was fastened to a pulley and wheel.
Uncle Bob did peg the tobacco crop--
An acre or two--
Following a heavy spring rain in the mud
As he would spit and chew.
He tilled the farm land
With a hoe, plow, and mule team.
As the corn and tobacco grew,
His face would always beam.
The job he loved best
Was to chop stove wood with a chopping axe.
This was to him a pleasure
And his way to relax.
He split fine kindling
So as to easily start a fire.
He toted the wood to fill the wood-box
Of which he would sit and admire.
He loved to sit and talk
With a neighbor or a friend.
He never argued or quarreled
And no one did he offend.
In the late afternoon, he often went
To chat-a-spell at the local black smith shop
After having fed the hogs
The dish water, scraps, and slop.
Each evening about dusky dark,
He would quietly slip off to bed.
One could hear him saying a prayer
As he was thankful for his family and homestead.
Uncle Bob lived with our family
The last 18 years of his life.
He died in 1948, and I'm sure
He is free of all strife.
His memory and love
With us still remain;
And in Heaven some day
We'll meet again.
Author: Edith Bastin © Copyright: October 23, 1998. All Rights Reserved.
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