Rags

I am seven living
On a hill watching
The rag man drive a
Wagon pulled by a horse
In the side street below calling
Out for old rags but he gets
None from us as my older
Sisters and mother will
Sew rags into a quilt
Over thin cotton
Backed by an
Old piece
Of cloth,
Dark
Colors
In a somber
Pattern reminiscent
Of Eastern European
Immigrants getting
Ready for winter
Pickling brining
Cucumbers to
Pickles and
Salting
Beef
Knowing
Their quilts
Will keep them
Warm till spring
Unlike my winter
In a warm Illinois
Classroom coloring
With crayons learning
To celebrate Fall colors
Thanksgiving Christmas
Then our teacher reads to
Us through the bitter cold of
January to March while at
Home we stay warm buy
Pickles bacon brisket
Do our few chores
Watch a lot of TV
In the black and
White 1950s
Using a tri-
Color bit
Of
Plastic
Blue blank
Then green
On the bottom
In lieu of color
Television so
Dinah Shore
Has blue
Hair
And my sibs
And I popcorn,
A rags to quilts
And riches
Story of
My
Childhood.