Growing Up Hard
Counting pennies, to buy a loaf of bread
More often than not, hungry going to bed
Us carrying mothers sewing machine, every thirty days
Three blocks to the pawn shop, till the welfare check pays
Got the welfare check, would get the sewing machine out
We'd pawn it again next month, without a doubt
Living on commodities, free peanut butter and cheese
Going to school without a coat we'd always freeze
We never had many nice clothes to wear
Mother would mend them when they began to tear
Having meat for dinner was a real rare thing
Breakfast and supper, beans and rice we were eating
We wore our shoes until they fell apart
Mother could only buy one of us a pair, at the mart
Quiet often we were left all by ourselves
While mother worked or went out for cocktails
The days weren't so bad alone, we were in school
But young and left alone at night was really cruel
Feeling so alone, just us three
Please stay home tonight mama, we'd plea
Times were hard when I was a child
This poem I've written, is putting it mild
poem by Donna Nimmo
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Related quotes
Check My Machine
(Spoken) Sticks And Stones May Break My Bones
But Names Will Never Hurt Me
Check My Machine
Check Check Check Check Check My Machine
Check My Machine
Check Check Check Check Check My Machine
(Repeat) -
I Got A Woman A Long Time Ago
I Had Trouble
I Want You To See What You Can See
Check My Machine
Check Check Check Check Check My Machine
Check My Machine
Check Check Check Check Check My Machine
(Ad Lib)
I Want You To Check Check Check Check Check My Machine Check Check Check Check Check My
Machine
(Ad Lib)
Check Check Check Check Check My Machine
(Repeat)
song performed by by Paul McCartney
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Oh! My Mama, Happy Mother's Day!
Oh! My mama, happy mother’s day
You are the greatest mother I have ever had
You are my mother today
You will be my mother tomorrow
You are always my mother
You will forever be my mother
Thank you my mother for bringing me into this world
Thank you my mother for taking care of me in your womb
Thank you my mother caring for me as a toddler
Thank you my mother for feeding me since I was a baby
Thank you my mother for all the clothes you bought for me
Thank you my mother for teaching me good manners at home
Thank you my mother for sending me to school
Thank you my mother for supervising my homework
Thank you my mother for ensuring I eat before going to school
Thank you my mother for all the regular pocket money
Thank you my mother for liking my friends
Thank you my mother for all the everyday advices
My mother always remind me that fingers are not equal
As I grow up, I have seen the correlation of this analogy
To many human beings, neighbors, societies and nationalities
Oh! My mama, thank you for your words of wisdom
My mother taught me many things that I have never read in books
Thank you my mother for all your guiding philosophies
Oh! My mama, I sincerely wish everyday could be Mother’s Day
One day in a year is not enough to thank my wonderful mother
Oh! My mama, I will forever be your child
Oh! My mama, you will eternally be my mother
Thank you my mother for being my best friend
Thank you my mother for being my trusted adviser
I honestly wish you HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
poem by Julius Babarinsa
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Oh! My Mama, Happy Mother's Day!
Oh! My mama, happy mother's day
You are the greatest mother I have ever had
You are my mother today
You will be my mother tomorrow
You are always my mother
You will forever be my mother
Thank you my mother for bringing me into this world
Thank you my mother for taking care of me in your womb
Thank you my mother caring for me as a toddler
Thank you my mother for feeding me since I was a baby
Thank you my mother for all the clothes you bought for me
Thank you my mother for teaching me good manners at home
Thank you my mother for sending me to school
Thank you my mother for supervising my homework
Thank you my mother for ensuring I eat before going to school
Thank you my mother for all the regular pocket money
Thank you my mother for liking my friends
Thank you my mother for all the everyday advices
My mother always remind me that fingers are not equal
As I grow up, I have seen the correlation of this analogy
To many human beings, neighbors, societies and nationalities
Oh! My mama, thank you for your words of wisdom
My mother taught me many things that I have never read in books
Thank you my mother for all your guiding philosophies
Oh! My mama, I sincerely wish everyday could be Mother's Day
One day in a year is not enough to thank my wonderful mother
Oh! My mama, I will forever be your child
Oh! My mama, you will eternally be my mother
Thank you my mother for being my best friend
Thank you my mother for being my trusted adviser
I honestly wish you HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
poem by Bikramjyoti Kashyop
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Peanut Butter Conspiracy
By: jimmy buffett
1973
Lookin back at my hard luck days
I really do have to laugh
Workin in a dive for twenty six dollars
Spendin it all on grass
We were hungry hard-luck heroes
Tryin just to stay alive
Wed go down to the corner grocery
This is how wed survive
Chorus:
Whos gonna steal the peanut butter
Ill get the can of sardines
Runnin up and down the aisle of the mini mart
Stickin food in our jeans
We never took more than we could eat
There was plenty left on the rack
We all swore if we ever got rich
We would pay the mini mart back
Yes sir! yes sir!
We would pay the mini mart back
It was a two man operation
Had it all down on a note
Ricky would watch that big round mirror
And Id fill up my coat
Then wed head for the check-out aisle
With a lemon and a bottle of beer
Into the car, got to make it on home
Suppertimes getting near
Chorus:
So whos gonna steal the peanut butter
Ill get the can of sardines
Runnin up and down the aisle of the mini mart
Stickin food in our jeans
Never took more than we could eat
There was plenty left on the rack
We all swore if we ever got rich
We would pay the mini mart back
Yes sir! yes sir!
We would pay the mini mart back
I guess every good picker has had some hard times
I sure had my share
Its really kinda funny to laugh at em now
But I dont want to go back there
So every now and then when Im in the grocery
Ill take a little but not much
cause you never know when those hard timesll hitcha
And I dont want to lose my touch
Chorus:
So whos gonna steal the peanut butter
Ill get the can of sardines
Runnin up and down the aisle of the mini mart
Stickin food in our jeans
We never took more than we could eat
There was plenty left on the rack
We all swore if we ever got rich
We would pay the mini mart back
Yes sir! yes sir!
We would pay the mini mart back
Yes sir, yes sir
We would pay the mini mart back
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The School Days are near!
Same shrieking morning alarms,
Same morning fear!
The school days are near, The school days are near!
Sleeping in the bathroom,
From out, Mom shouts, '' DO YOU EVEN HEAR? ''
The school days are near, The school days are near!
So drowsy I am,
Confused, don't know what to wear!
The school days are near, The school days are near!
And entered into the school,
Murmuring silently, '' Oh dear! Oh dear! ''
The school days are near, the school days are near!
And if the first period is Maths,
Not again those equations linear! !
The school days are near, the school days are near!
A look at the load of books,
From the corner of my eye drops a tear!
The school days are near, the school days are near!
Gosh! When will vacations come?
We'll have to wait an year!
The school days are near, the school days are near!
Hoping when we go,
We'll find joy, sheer!
The school days are near, The school days are near! ! : D
poem by HudaM DeGratePoet
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Custom Machine
Check my custom machine
Well shes metal flake blue with a corvette grill
(check my custom machine)
And they say it looks better when shes standin still
(check my custom machine)
When I step on the gas she goes wa aa aa
Ill let you look but dont touch my custom machine
Well with naugahyde bucket seats in front and back
(check my custom machine)
Everything is chrome, man, even my jack
(check my custom machine)
When I step on the gas she goes wa aa aa
Ill let you look but dont touch my custom machine
With stereophonic speaker set with fibrosonic sound
(check my custom machine)
Magnesium spokes, it stands an inch off the ground
(check my custom machine)
When I step on the gas she goes wa aa aa
Ill let you look but dont touch my custom machine
Oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Mother Mother Mother
How you cared for us. Don't keep away from us.I won't surive without you/ Mother Mother Mother Your eyes show me the way. When I fall on my way. You lend me a hand to carry on. Mother Mother Mother You had a very hard life. But you gave your baby your own bread from your own mouth. When she feels hungry. Mother Mother Mother If I pass though this word. I wouldn't find you anywhere. Your sweet smile makes me happy. Mother Mother Mother My love for you will go on forever. I love you my Mother Mother Mother forever and ever. written 6/23/08 Posted 10/27/08 In the memory of my mother Esther Ferber Klayton
poem by Susie Sunshine
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Jane Jenkins
Jane Jenkins was just barely ten
When her father's beatings had begun
The year was nineteen twenty nine
As they waited together in the free bread line
Her little face wore such sweet repose
Her cheeks the color of the old fashioned rose
That grew on the trellis by the house on the hill
Where the voice of her mother was stoic and still
He'd always worn a Black Irish frown
Since the day he arrived from Dublin Town,
With the immigrant groups who then here came
To dodge it's poverty and shame
It had never really been that bad
Before that Tuesday that the stock market crashed
He drove a truck, a Mack, I think
But had propensity to drink
And sometimes days would turn to weeks
He'd not come home and they lived on the cheap
And all those times that he was stealth
He kept his paycheck to himself
So itty bitty tiny Jane
With her mother, would beg to gain
A penny here or a nickel there
Picking cotton until their hands were rare
So she'd grown accustomed to those times
Her stomach was more empty than yours or mine
But the one thing that was sorely marred
Was her wee small heart with its thickened scars
And she safeguarded it under lock and key
Putting on a face of merry glee
And attended school wearing flower sacks
In place of the fabric that her mother lacked
And then one day her life all changed
She dared to dream a dream to frame
He'd left for good with his Black Irish frown
She stomped his memory in the cold hard ground
Written by Sara Fielder © 2012
poem by Sara Fielder
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She Sinful Or Wild
All or nothing at all
her father had said
and it seemed right
until she met Harpoon
and he seemed her
Mr Right the one she
had been waiting for
the one she'd dreamed
about but then it all
went wrong and he
became Mr Wrong
and oh yes that was
the downfall that was
the way to her deep
depression and that
episode in the bath
when she tried to
drown herself as her
mother had before her
and she discovered her
as a child coming home
from school and the
door was ajar and when
she went in there was
her mother with her
wrists slit and blood
and her mother drowned
and dead and now sitting
there in her mother's
chair her father some
place her husband poking
some other and all or
nothing at all seemed all
there was left apart from
the few books on the shelf
the Bill Burroughs her mother
had read and left and that
Bukowski book she'd found
in some second shop and the
battered Bible which her
father had beat her about
the head and backside with
as a child when her father
had been boozing or she
had been sinful or wild.
poem by Terry Collett
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My mother the Hero that you will never forget
you don't hear too often thatg mother's are hero's/ Daddy's are hero'sbut mother's are supposeto do the things a mother does. My mother was extra special. She was strong very nice like no other nother.She helped me with my school wrok. Even though she didn't go to school. She had everything a mother should have. That is waht is so extra special about my mother written 8/27/09 Posted 6/8/10 In the memory of my mother Esther Ferber Klayton
poem by Susie Sunshine
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Forward
Have you ever made a quilt? I have. its one of the most therapeutic and calming things Ive ever done. and I had a huge sense of accomplishment when I finished.
Both of my grandmothers made quilts, my mama did, and my aunt jeannie did. I loved to open that big box at christmastime knowing it was a quilt that one of them had made. I was so flattered that after all the time and energy they had spent on that quilt, they had selected me to receive it. even as a young girl, I knew a quilt was a gift I would cherish always.
Back when I was living at home, I remember during the winter months mama would set up her sewing machine in the living room over by the window. at night when wed all be in there watching tv after supper, mama would be over at her sewing machine, making another quilt from the scraps left over
From a dress or blouse she had made for one of us earlier.
Then, when she had sewn all the squares sewn together, shed lay the batting on the living room floor, lay the quilted piece on top of that, and then start tacking it down. when that was completed, shed sew the border around it. then it was finished. all that remained was for mama to decide who would be the proud recipient of her precious handiwork which represented so many hours of love.
I feel very blessed to have received one of mamas quilts. I sleep under it every night Im home. it doesnt match the fancy comforter we bought in los angelos, but it feels better than anything you can imagine. just because I know my mama made it just for me.
When daddys mother died in 1950, one year before my sister alice was born, mama got the trunk that held all of the quilts, china, crystal, silverware, and knickknacks that grandma had collected during her lifetime. mama discovered that grandmas trunk also included a few quilt pieces that she had started but had never finished. my sister susie eventually wound up with those quilt pieces and we all figured she would finish them out and keep them for herself.
But as only susie would do, she cut the makings of the quilt into four squares, had them quilted, put a picture of grandma mcentire and a descripion of the quilt ogether, and had them framed for alices, my brother pakes, and my christmas present.
Thats how thoughtful susie is. she could have kept the quilt for herself, but, instead, she shared with her brother and sisters something so special, which had belonged to a woman none of us had ever met. thats part of susies charm.
Thats also the charm of a quilt. like a mother, it wraps its arms around you-sosoft, yet so sturdy, and so comforting. in my grandmas time the sewing of a quilt would bring friends and neighbors together, and in quilting circles today that lovely tradition continues. now we live in a time when so many women do not even have a sewing machine in their home and when country quilts hang in the fanciest boutiques and galleries selling as decorative art. that would sure give my grandma and her circle a good laugh and more than a few shakes of the head.
Can you just imagine the visiting, the stories, and the fellowship that have gone on during the making of all the wonderful quilts through the years? and can you imagine all the children who have been tucked in securely underneath them in their beds night after night? and us adults too?
Thats what you call comfort from a country quilt. I hope this book is as comforting to you as my mamas quilt has always been to me. like a quilt, this book is made up of small pieces of material-some of my favorite stories, memorable experiences, and more than a few opinions-written, rather than sewn, from the stuff of my life. I have stitched these pieces together with my sincere hope that you will find the quilt of a book friendly, warm, and enjoyable, something you can turn to for comfort and entertainment and for sharing with friends and family.
So grab your favorite quilt, wra up, get comfortable, and enjoy.
From me to you.
Love,
Reba
song performed by by Reba Mcentire
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Mama, My Lovely Mother
When at infancy, I wee inside her food
She never stop eating
my mama, my lovely mother
When am ill and sad, healthy and happy,
She keep praying for me
my mama, my lovely mother
When I started crawling,
Tears of affection made her eyes heavy
my mama, my lovely mother
When I walk, her fear increases,
That I might go the wrong way
and get hurt
my mama, my lovely mother
When she look at me,
Her gaze always ask me,
How are you my child
my mama, my lovely mother
When am sick, it brings out
The doctor in her
my mama, my lovely mother
I never grow old for her tender love,
Oh! God bless my mother and make
Her proud of me
my mama, my lovely mother
poem by Michael Odor
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Her Woes
the social welfare
officer carries
her bouncing baby
boy
the social welfare
officer says the boy
is healthy
the mother has
meningitis and
cannot support
the boy
he needs a lot
of milk
he is heavy and
he smiles a
lot and he
stares at his
mother
who has no
mind of her own
now
the social welfare
officer carries
the baby in her arms
and i am signing
the papers
attesting to the
mother's having
to give up the
boy for
welfare,
her sister from
Calape
has six kids
and her husband
is jobless
the boy stares
at her mother
who says
she is moving
to another place
to forget him
she was raped.
she got pregnant.
they are poor.
and she has to give
up the boy
the boy keeps
staring at her
mother.
their woes.
would you like
to carry the boy, sir?
he says.
No. he is definite.
No. His answer.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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I Like My Mother
There's candy
Icecream
Chocalate
Good dreams
And I like my Mother!
Mothers are sweet
Mothers are nice
They help you
Give you good advice
And they make you cookies!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I Like my Mother!
I really
Like
My Mother!
Theres Uncles
Cousins
Sisters
Brothers
Fathe rs
And I like my Mother!
And I pray God
You'll let my Mother live a thousand years
So I don't have to get a job or do anything
And I can just live with my mother!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I like my Mother!
I really
Like
My Mother!
poem by Art Paul Schlosser
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Without A Wok We Can't Have Our Stir Fry
My children asked me to go for a walk,
In unison we stared at each other,
The look on my face was of total shock,
So they ran off to see their Mother.
They said they were sorry but they'd try to cope,
Beans on toast would be fine,
For other nutrition there's plenty of scope,
There's so much more on which we can dine.
What in Gods name were they talking about,
I then told them to put on their shoes,
I could last for miles when I was a scout,
That comment didn't seem to amuse.
Have you no sympathy Dad you're very cruel,
You'll have our Mother in tears,
The way you're behaving is so un-cool?
I thought all is not what it appears.
My children wanting exercise just couldn't be true,
That's when I started to worry,
The both of them struggle just to walk to the loo,
But here they were both in a hurry.
Mother needs comfort not sarcastic jibes,
I asked why is she feeling unwell,
They said no it's to our welfare our mother subscribes,
On that front she will always excel.
I asked her if she was feeling alright,
She said yes but why do you ask,
The kids wanting a walk has given me a fright,
They're looking upon it as some wonderful task.
She said I burned the pan whilst cooking,
It was damaged beyond repair,
The reason, well I wasn't looking,
That happening to me is so rare.
We asked them both what their problem was,
They said without one they'd probably die,
With tears in their eyes they both took a pause,
‘'Without A Wok We Can't Have Our Stir Fry ‘'
Mother In Law
(a. toussaint)
Mother in law, mother in law
Mother in law, mother in law
The worst person I know
Mother in law, mother in law
She worries me so
Mother in law, mother in law
If she leaves us alone
We could have a happy home
Sent from down below
Mother in law, mother in law
Mother in law, mother in law
Satan should be her name
Mother in law, mother in law
To me theyre about the same
Mother in law, mother in law
Everytime I open my mouth
Steps in trying to put me out
How could you stood so low
Mother in law, mother in law
Mother in law, mother in law
Come home with my pay
Mother in law, mother in law
She asks me what I made
Mother in law, mother in law
She thinks her advice is a contribution
If she would leave that would be the solution
Dont come back no more
Mother in law, mother in law
Mother in law, mother in law....
song performed by by Huey Lewis And The News
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Somewhere In France
mother is in a coma
and I am somewhere in France
and you left me all alone at the school dance
I was sweet sixteen
you were going on sixty four
Your eyes were blue
but your words untrue 'love? '
You stood me up and left me standing at the door
I must confess in my distress I said
'I've never seen that boy before! '
But you were long gone
Before I got over you
The boy who played the trumpet
you were rotten to the core
You left me standing all alone
In the middle of the floor
and while other sweethearts jived and bopped
I sipped my lemonade and sat alone,
Gave up on love as a cruel masquerade
Disconnected every phone
Mother's in coma
And I'm a dreamer on the run
And life aint fun and I'm on the run
I'm somwhere lost in France
By the Eiffel Tower I shiver and cower
As I recall that cruel school dance
and you are probably middle aged
chronologically right for your body
your probably married a wife with Big Ears
And drive around in a car like Noddy
mother is out of her coma
And I'm catching the next train home
I'll stay for a while but then I must fly
For a long weekend in Rome
Where I will wander among the ruins
And try really hard to forget
The boy who once trumped on his trumpet
Eating a soggy bagette,
Married divorced with a wayward kid
Then I 'll fly off to spain with a heart full of rain
To relive the sorry saga over, again and again!
poem by Yvette Smith
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Yet I Am A Mother
18years is all I am and yet I am a mother
A mother so young
A mother so immature
A mother who can't take care of the responsibilities
But yet I am a mother
A mother who bergs from parents when she's in need
But what was I doing not thinking about the consequences of my action leaving todays and not tomorrow's satisfaction.
One visit to his house and now I am a mother
A mother so young
A mother still in school
A mother so immature.
poem by Nomusa Promise Ndimande
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Mama Would You
For Mother's Day
Mama would you
Hold your baby tight
Tell me a bedtime story
To make the bad dreams go away
Mama would you
Always and forever
Be mine
On mother's day
Mama would you
Play a game with me
Chutes and ladders or candyland
Don't matter to me
As long as we're together
Mama would you
Grant me this wish
Be all mine on mother's day
Mama would you
Maybe share a cookie or a glass of milk
Let me tell you all about
My day away at school
Mama would you
Smile and say you'll be mine
On mother's day
Mama would you
Let me have a cute little kitty
One to call all my own
Or a doggie so smart
He could do all my homework
Mama would you
Stay forever mine
On mother's day
2008 Ramona Thompson
poem by Ramona Thompson
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Mother's Son
It should never be done
For a mother to have to bury her son
In a sad tombstone filled place
Giving him over to the grounds embrace
It could have been anyone
But why, oh why was it a mother’s son?
Who decided to let him die?
What is she supposed to do?
Get back up and start to dry
The never ending tears from her eyes
He was her first and only hers
Now she’s living out the curse
Of life without him on this Earth
She remembers from his birth
Happy times, with no hurt
It could have been anyone
But why, oh why was it a mother’s son?
But over there is another
Bending, grieving a mother
But who is she to have to bear
Burdens that will always wear
On the hearts of mothers everywhere
She sees no life left to live
And yet her heart refuses to give
It is strong and will fight
And live the life
Taken away from one to young
It could have been anyone
But why, oh why was it a mother’s son?
poem by Rae Carroll
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