I Sit and Ponder the Good Old Days

I sit and ponder the good old days -
Before the wars in Iraq and Syria,
And Islamic State and Al Qaida,
(Whose actions never cease to amaze!).

I sit and ponder the good old days -
When Hitler stormed and strutted his way
Across a Europe held in his sway
(When carpet bombing set cities ablaze).

I sit and ponder the good old days -
Polio and smallpox across the world
Continued to kill both young and old
(Were these times worthy of praise?).

I sit and ponder the good old days –
“No Irish or Coloureds need apply;”
“That this is racist I don’t deny!”
(“But that is what the notice says!”)

I sit and ponder the good old days –
Two pounds an hour is now my wage
My BBC computer – dawns a new age
(Life’s so good in many ways!)

Enough about the good old days
Perhaps I need to face the truth -
Things have changed now since my youth!
(Were they really the good old days?)



'No Irish or Coloured Need Aply' refers to a cartoon of window displays where rooms to let were available, which said (along the lines of) ‘No Coloureds, No Irish, No dogs’.  The poem really is saying that what so many older people say about the ‘Good Old Days’ is so clearly untrue and at best a misrepresentation of past events and circumstances.