Riches by Jeanne D. Rhein

They say that times were tough then
That money was very tight
But I remember my childhood
And I know that can't be right
Mom would cook our dinner
Dad came home at five
We were all sitting at the table
Waiting for him to arrive
We wouldn't eat from a microwave
Or a resturant down the street
We all ate Mom's home cooking
And boy that can't be beat
We didn't eat in front of the TV
Or with a phone in our hand
We weren't plugged into a stereo bopping to the latest band
We would all sit at the table
Everyone in their place
There were never any surprises
We reconized every face Brothers to the left of me Sisters to the right
That's the way we ate dinner Every single night
We laughed we joked we talked we ate
We were a family don't you see
Though some may have been raised poor
You can see it wasn't me
We ate collards we ate biscuits
We ate fatback and blackeyed peas
We said yes sir we said no sir
We said thank you ma'am and please
So when you talk of family life
Or how it used to be
Though many had more money None were as rich as me