MOTHER'S TASK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 125, 28 May 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

MOTHER'S TASK.

I hope, said Mum, In pensive mood, Now winter, dismal, drear Has come, that spring be not delayed, Oh, may it soon be hero ! As age-long evenings come again Dad will be peeved, I fear. I fear tlie gladsome gramophone His boredom won't allay. When he has pulled his slippers on At close of dreary day : Will radio his spirits raise? I really cannot say. Will dominoes assuage his grouse, Or table bagatelle? Fintr-pong lie bates, and euchre, too (lib does not play them well), And what ho thinks of tiddlywinks No human tongue can tell.

And while I knit the good grey sock, And count the plain and purl, Anathema at modern books He certainly will burl; And scorn the red-blood story of The curate and the girl.

I'll buy for little .Tack and Jill Some automatic toys, Thou p'raps he'll sit for hours and hours Wrapped up in puerile joys; For men are nearly always men, Except when they are boys. Perhaps, to whilo Dad's hours away, I'll spill upon the floor A peck or two of bright blue beads (Or even a few more), Then he can pick them up pach one. And count them o'er and o'er. Or shall I buy him parlour bowls To kill the passing hours? I fear he'd miss the verdant green And the refreshing showers ; The spots in the pavilion, too, The aroma of (lowers. Poor father! Cooped up night on night Within our bungalow. Not knowing how to spend the time, Not knowing where to go: Oh, how I wish I could devise Some solace—l do so. I think I'll write to Mister Forbes Between the wintry storms, To nsk him most politely for A hundredweight tf forms For Pad to till in evety night (Help! What will rhyme with "storms"?) He'd pass the very longest night In pleasant tasks away. Assessing keenly, income tux. And what he'd love to pay If he had any income left To meet a winter gray. i —C.J.