Childhood Nostalgia

There used to be cobblers in every town

back when people polished their shoes

and darned their socks.

My mother saved buttons

from shirts that could no longer be repaired

to be used on shirts that still could be.

On Saturdays a man in a truck

would park on the street

and sharpen knives and scissors

for those who wanted to keep their edge.

Another man in another truck

came around and collected old rags,

newspapers and returnable bottles.

Televisions, radios and washing machines

could be repaired instead of discarded.

Doctors would come to people’s houses

so sick children didn’t have to go out in the cold.