I was a depression child.
Depression, now a tropical storm,
then it was hunger.
We grew our own food or we didn’t eat.
Hand-me-downs were like new clothes.
Discipline was easy,
if you didn’t work you didn’t eat.
Sounds like communism,
who cared about politics on an empty stomach?
The kids teased me about my black sateen welfare shirt,
but Ms. Doty, my teacher, stopped this hurt,
“I like your beautiful shirt,” she said,
as her icy stare froze on their faces,
the room fell quiet.
– Dallas D Lassen
