Life Of A Baby Boomer Poem by Sheena Blackhall

NHS, rationing down to the wire
Ice inside windows, coal on fire

Pneumonia, TB, polio, croup
Diphtheria, measles, could cut you from the loop

Nobody turned up their nose at food
We ate what we got, be it bad or good

The wireless, marriage, local shops
The butcher's van bringing mince and chops

Trams and the odd horse clip-clopping
Payday envelopes where cash was king

No cold calling, internet, junk mail
Milk deliveries, in bottle, not pail

GP visiting any time at all
Low crime rates, ethnic groups were small

Wringers, mangles, washing by hand
Knitting, darning, women's time was planned

Lino polished, and a tin tub bath
Grace at mealtimes, comics for a laugh

Chanting the alphabet, pen nibs in ink
The 11 plus sorted out those who could think

Aniseed balls and swapping stickers
Of angels, footballers, babes in frilly knickers

Paper chains, marbles, conkers too
Leather schoolbags, the tawse on view

Ticking clocks and the sack jump race
Hula hoops. Leap frog, Journey into Space

Childhood innocence, sex kept hidden
Shut up, sit up, and do as you were bidden

Pre-teens Elvis, Skiffle and pop
Lonnie Donegan, jazz and bop

Tommy Steele and the Everley Brothers
Frank Sinatra, scores of others

Uncle Mac's Children's Favourites show
Everest conquered in a land of snow

Beehive hairdos, winkle picker shoes
Mary Quant, and with London in the news

The Sixties: the Twist, Beatles, J.F.K. killed
Women burning bras, how our music thrilled

Smoking was cool, The Rolling Stones
Scored high, Dylan's songs got into our bones

Hippies, the pill, Coca-Cola, Vietnam
Flower Power, Women's Lib, miniskirt glam

The Seventies!Hot pants, bell bottom flare
Afros, Abba, disco everywhere

Godfather, Clockwork Orange, Rising Damp
Grease, Dad's Army, stars quite camp

IRA bombs tore families apart
Strikes and austerity struck at Britain's heart

MacDonald's, KFC, joggers pounding past bars
Into the Eighties, leg warmers and wars

The Falklands, Lockerbie, Lennon was shot
Brixton riots, feelings raging hot

Beggars in shop doorways, graffiti, crimes
Glue sniffing, Thatcherism set the times

Inspector Morse and the Hill Street Blues
The Cosby Show…now, who'd walk in his shoes?


Rolex watches, large shoulder pads, tight jeans
The Nineteen Nineties, changed our viewing screens

CCTV surveillance all around
Diane killed in the Paris underground

An age of celebrity…the five minute wonder
Internet shopping, main street shops gone under

ASBOs, political correctness brigade
The nanny state, drug use, our bright word frayed

Into the twenty first century
Swine fever, unemployment, BSE

September 11th when the twin towers fell
Suicide bombers and atrocities from Hell

Afghanistan, Iraq, the phone hacking story
Gay weddings, hunting bans, Memento mori

We baby boomers, like an autumn tree
See our peers succumbing to mortality

Dementia, Alzheimer's, Diabetes two
Stroke, Cancer, Heart Attack, are coming for you