Good Old Days

Carol Faulkenberry

Fatback on the table, slop beneath the bed.
Children in the cotton mill, little babies dead
Of polio and strep throat. Terror in the night
When Klansmen's burning crosses set the sky alight.
Poverty and ignorance. Truly all was well!
For gays stayed in their closets until they burned in hell;
Barefoot pregnant women obeyed and served their men;
Black folks were subservient. God willed it so. Amen! 

Carol Faulkenberry is the author of An Uppity Old Atheist Woman's Dictionary, published by the Atlanta Freethought Society. This poem is from her book. For more information about the book, write to the Society at P.O. Box 813392, Smyrna, GA, 30081-3392.