DOWN HOME
A simple house of three rooms,
A pantry and enclosed back porch.
Beside the front door Pampas grass
Spider ladies, red salvia,
Black eyed Susans and nasturtiums
Bank the front, on the side
Castor bean and flowering quince.
Behind there is a garden
With sweet corn, tomatoes and kale,
Mustard greens, beets, and turnips
Poke weed that yields both ink
And poke salat in the spring
There is also a place where
The razor back hogs are slopped
That are also allowed to roam
The hickory woods beyond.
A brick lined well was
Twenty feet below the house
With a bucket on a rope
Sitting on the cover of the well.
Fresh water, the sweetest
Ever I drank was in a stainless
Steel bucket on the porch
With a ladle for drinking,
Cooking and washing,
A porcelained basin sat
On a bench with towel
And brown home-made soap
For washing both hands and dishes.
The water with food from plates
And leftovers was thrown
To slop the hogs, from which
We got home cured bacon
And country ham
A sixteen pound slab
Was in the ice box,
Black rind still attached
Next to a glass quart of milk
With standing cream
Bought daily along with
Dozen eggs and Mellow Creme
Donuts and fluffy white bread.
A kerosene three burnered stove
That lit with explosive force
Served to cook, though no meals
Were served, it was simply set out
For any who were hungry
Along with a gallon of iced tea
In the middle of the kitchen table
Sweetened and with lemon slices
For guests who came and went.
In the kitchen clutter there were
Glasses of jams, jellies, and preserves,
A gallon jar of pickles, spiced apples
Pickled pigs' feet, hard summer sausage
Head cheese and a crock of k***t.
Apple slices and stringed beans
Hung to dry alongside herbs,
Dishes were few and washed frequently
As were pots and pans.
A large coffee pot on the stove
Boiled coffee. grounds settled with
A whole raw egg, shell and all.
It also heated water for washing.
The pantry also served
As a place to shave with basin
And mirror no bigger than a face,
It too held the ten gallon
Galvanized square tub
For Saturday baths in the back yard,
Towels and clothes spread out
On the poke and sassafras.
Pot-bellied coal stove
With isinglass windows
Heated the house, kindled by
Newspaper from the stacks
On the back porch next to
The cases of beer in bottles.
The bedroom held a double bed
And dresser, as well as a walk in closet,
Other sleepers were accommodated on
A couch in the front room, or pallets
Of quilts on the floor, there were
Two overstuffed chairs to sit and chat
A cherry drop leaf table and end table
Both held kerosene lamps for reading
© ALBERT K. JUNGERS FEBRUARY 2, 2008, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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