Living In The Heights. Poem by Douglas McClarty

I could say we were almost
extended families
But not related in anyway,
We all lived on the estate
we called the heights
More than neighbours,
almost like a common market,
a borrowed cup of sugar
could be paid back
With a few slices of bread,
or a jug of milk
A single shilling for the gas meter
until payday no interest charged
We had an almost open door policy
No one knocked, you just walked into
each other's houses
as if we lived there
A cup of tea was always shared,
No biscuits or buns
Sometimes on birthdays
We had jelly
Our new fourteen inch television
cost us a few friends for a while,
A jump to far,
getting above ourselves
Then when they got to know
it was on the tic
Relationships got back to normal
reasonably quick.
Nineteen fifty five was a difficult year
My dad was unemployed,
nearly broke his back at his now
Non existent job.
The tic television was no more
So to survive we would knock a few more
of our extended families doors,
A bowel of sugar,
a few slices of bread,
helped keep our penniless family fed.