By Gavin Murphy
By now you had heard
the explanation/lecture
about why dad worked,
why almost every day
he had to go to his “job.”
The man of the house
had to “work” because
the house you lived in
was not “free.”
The car we drove around
in was not free. Our clothes
cost “money” and so did
our food.
Dad worked at his job
so we could get money
to pay for all these things.
Even as a child you understood
that a house, car, food and clothes
were essentials. But you didn't
need a big fancy house or a
big fancy car, or even TV
- but you really liked TV.
Toys were something
poor kids didn’t have,
at least not in abundance.
You felt sorry for poor kids
and even guilty for having toys,
though you weren’t sure
what guilt was exactly.
So you did what children do
- let self preserving selfishness
drive away sympathy and guilt
as you assembled a huge army
of plastic toy soldiers with
toy tanks and planes and you
made loud explosion and gunfire
noises until the carnage attracted
the attention of mom, who ordered
that the war be concluded, and
the soldiers, including the fallen,
be returned to the barracks.
Posted January 2026
Leave a Reply