MAMA’S DRESSES
A blue cotton dress rather faded and worn,
A green one that looked like a patchy lawn,
Then the pretty spotty one, for Sunday best,
One more saved for weddings and the rest.

The family was large, money hard to come by,
Father worked hard, never enough he used to sigh,
When the needed dress for her could not be bought,
It did not really matter, at least that’s what she thought.

Until she overheard her neighbour quite cruelly say,
‘I wonder why Mary always dresses in that awful way’?
She was saving money to go to the second hand store
Where she could buy clothes cheaply by the score.

Would everyone know? Could they be able to tell?
A pretty dress for only two dollars, her face fell,
Maybe they had seen the dress hanging up there,
A smart skirt and blouse too, the price very fair.

The dress was a perfect fit, the blouse and skirt too,
If fact each of the items, to her, looked just like new,
Another skirt that she could afford a treasure indeed,
How much for a few dollars she’d been blessed indeed.

The store owner place the items in an expensive Bay bag,
As she climbed on the bus her head she did not sag,
As she walked past the neighbours house she went slow,
The neighbour smiled, inside her happy heart was all aglow.

The skirt and blouse to the school concert she proudly wore
Good cut, high quality, worth a hundred dollars, maybe more,
She kept the blue faded dress, the children asked her why,
She told them of the struggles that brought tears to her eye.

It helps me remember, that sacrifice is good, helps us grow,
That it is the inside that matters not the clothes that show,
But if you can dress up all smart for a price that is cheap,
Smile at neighbours, and your little secret try and keep.

(Millicent) Ann Margetson August 14, 2002