People saw us kicking a can down the street and asked what we were doing…we said “Moving house”.
We made a hole in the kitchen wall, behind the cooker, and we used to dip our bread in next door’s gravy!
The homeless guy on the corner offered us a handout.
The dog got nervous every year at Thanksgiving.
We had to borrow a few beans, to make the gas for a fire.
We were so poor, the only things we saw on the kitchen table were elbows.
We would go to the KFC and lick other peoples fingers.
We were so poor we had to borrow dirt from the neighbors.
We were so poor we had to reach up to touch bottom.
When we needed a new pair of shoes Ma would make us run outside when it was raining. When we got our feet good and muddy she made us come inside and put our feet up until the mud dried.
We were so poor, that when a crumb of bread hit the floor, the cockroaches scrambled out to feed, singing: Clap your hands, stomp your feet. Praise the Lord, we got somethin to eat!"
My family was so poor we went into vaudeville just so people would throw rotten fruit and vegetables at us.
