Vintage Sewing Machine Poetry
01-04-2015, 02:08 PM
#22
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederick, OK
Posts: 2,031
Originally Posted by sews
.... it COULD be true and then it Would be true .... and hurt.
Since most of my poems are about my own experiences, I wanted to distance myself from the fictional “victim” in that particular poem.
CD in Oklahoma
01-06-2015, 08:10 AM
#25
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Sonoma County, CA
Posts: 4,299
Originally Posted by ThayerRags
“I have a hole in my jeans!”, the teen Granddaughter cried,
....
....
It has a good comfortable tempo, too.
01-06-2015, 08:21 AM
#26
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Sonoma County, CA
Posts: 4,299
Originally Posted by J Miller
That was very good, but the two lines I highlighted were a bit melancholy and actually brought tears to my eyes.
I have quite a few good old machines that have said that to me.
Joe
I have quite a few good old machines that have said that to me.
Joe
01-08-2015, 11:35 AM
#28
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederick, OK
Posts: 2,031
Takes Me Back
“Wow! That’s an old relic!”, he said rather loud,
He was referring to my patcher of which I’m quite proud.
I said, “That’s a Singer Patcher, a model 29,
from back in the 40s, and it still stitches just fine”.
“You mean you still use it, it’s not just for show?”
“Of course I still use it!” I was quick to say so.
“I was seated at it sewing, just before you came in,
and I doubt it’ll be long before I’ll need it again.”
“When sewing in tight spots, like the side of a shoe,
it’s the machine that can do it, and I always go to.”
“For purses, bags, cases and similar stuff,
to sew them without it would be pretty tough.”
“The long narrow bed can get way down inside,
where other machines can’t, even if they tried.”
I’m not sure he was listening, so I hushed for a bit,
he didn’t say a thing, just kept looking at it.
Finally he spoke, after a long pause had passed,
“I know back in those days, they built them to last.”
“I remember back home, in the town I was raised,
Mr. Bill’s Shop had one, boy those were the days.”
“I spent many hours, down at that cobbler shop,
watching Mr. Bill working while I drank a pop.”
He paused again thinking, and stared off into space,
and then after a bit, a smile came on his face.
“With few Shoe Shops still open, or Saddle Shops too,
it’s nice to again see one, and it was nice meeting you.”
As he went out the doorway, I bid him “So long!”,
he hopped in his car and soon he was gone.
I looked at the patcher, and thought in a way,
that relic old patcher, had made that man’s day.
It took him way back, for just a moment it did,
to some really fond memories of when he was a kid.
CD in Oklahoma
He was referring to my patcher of which I’m quite proud.
I said, “That’s a Singer Patcher, a model 29,
from back in the 40s, and it still stitches just fine”.
“You mean you still use it, it’s not just for show?”
“Of course I still use it!” I was quick to say so.
“I was seated at it sewing, just before you came in,
and I doubt it’ll be long before I’ll need it again.”
“When sewing in tight spots, like the side of a shoe,
it’s the machine that can do it, and I always go to.”
“For purses, bags, cases and similar stuff,
to sew them without it would be pretty tough.”
“The long narrow bed can get way down inside,
where other machines can’t, even if they tried.”
I’m not sure he was listening, so I hushed for a bit,
he didn’t say a thing, just kept looking at it.
Finally he spoke, after a long pause had passed,
“I know back in those days, they built them to last.”
“I remember back home, in the town I was raised,
Mr. Bill’s Shop had one, boy those were the days.”
“I spent many hours, down at that cobbler shop,
watching Mr. Bill working while I drank a pop.”
He paused again thinking, and stared off into space,
and then after a bit, a smile came on his face.
“With few Shoe Shops still open, or Saddle Shops too,
it’s nice to again see one, and it was nice meeting you.”
As he went out the doorway, I bid him “So long!”,
he hopped in his car and soon he was gone.
I looked at the patcher, and thought in a way,
that relic old patcher, had made that man’s day.
It took him way back, for just a moment it did,
to some really fond memories of when he was a kid.
CD in Oklahoma
01-11-2015, 06:34 AM
#30
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Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Frederick, OK
Posts: 2,031
Where It Has Been
Maybe I should spruce-up my old sewing machine,
the use and abuse over the years can be seen,
There are ways to restore a much better shine,
perhaps I should do it with this one of mine.
Its date is from the year of nineteen fourteen,
as of twenty fourteen, it’s now an antique machine.
The decals are silvered, the finish worn on the bed,
it’s poor old red eyes have lost most of their red.
The paint that’s remaining doesn’t appear to be loose,
the paint that is missing appears worn off from use.
Many scratches, dings, and the rash on the arm,
it has been through heck to have all this harm.
I’d like to know more about this sewing machine,
its use and its history, if you know what I mean.
And I really do wonder what the story would be,
if this old machine was able to tell it to me.
But since it can’t talk, I’ll just have to guess,
did it sew toddler’s clothing or a woman’s new dress?
It came out as a treadle, its age would suggest,
but I’ll never know, the machine cannot attest.
It was made in New Jersey, but then on to where?
Was it shipped coast to coast, or was it picked up right there?
Has it ridden in a wagon, or maybe on a train?
Were its travels protected, from the dust and the rain?
When I found it in 0-seven, in my midwestern state,
its treadle was missing, I was a little too late.
No motor or upgrades appear ever applied,
so it seems it has never been “electrified”.
Had it been cast aside before power lines came?
Or was the Owner short funds for that kind of thing?
If funds were no problem, did they just like to treadle?
If that’s what they liked, perhaps no need to meddle.
I fitted a handcrank and an ugly old case,
and with sewing machine oil, I wiped off its face.
With very little effort, it was brought back to sew,
how long it had been idle, I’ll just never know.
So now in Oklahoma, it once again sews,
each time that I use it, it just takes off and goes.
What travels had brought it to my fair state?
Has it lived here for long, or arrived as of late?
By the time that I found it, nothing left but the head.
in a stack of machines in an old storage shed,
Heads stacked in a bin, about 4 machines deep,
this old machine was near the bottom of the heap.
Dusty, forgotten, and looking forlorn,
no wonder its finish is looking so worn.
But each of its flaws could tell an event,
of who it lived with, and where with them went.
To mess with its finish, I know very well,
erases the history, the machine is trying to tell.
The bad things that happened, need not to be known,
the abuse, the neglect, the time spent all alone.
But I’ll imagine the good times that it has been in,
and wonder as to where and with whom it has been.
Whoever has had it, probably more than just one,
has certainly used this old son-of-a-gun!
So I think that I’ll keep it, just as it appears,
and wonder how it made it through all of its years.
CD in Oklahoma
the use and abuse over the years can be seen,
There are ways to restore a much better shine,
perhaps I should do it with this one of mine.
Its date is from the year of nineteen fourteen,
as of twenty fourteen, it’s now an antique machine.
The decals are silvered, the finish worn on the bed,
it’s poor old red eyes have lost most of their red.
The paint that’s remaining doesn’t appear to be loose,
the paint that is missing appears worn off from use.
Many scratches, dings, and the rash on the arm,
it has been through heck to have all this harm.
I’d like to know more about this sewing machine,
its use and its history, if you know what I mean.
And I really do wonder what the story would be,
if this old machine was able to tell it to me.
But since it can’t talk, I’ll just have to guess,
did it sew toddler’s clothing or a woman’s new dress?
It came out as a treadle, its age would suggest,
but I’ll never know, the machine cannot attest.
It was made in New Jersey, but then on to where?
Was it shipped coast to coast, or was it picked up right there?
Has it ridden in a wagon, or maybe on a train?
Were its travels protected, from the dust and the rain?
When I found it in 0-seven, in my midwestern state,
its treadle was missing, I was a little too late.
No motor or upgrades appear ever applied,
so it seems it has never been “electrified”.
Had it been cast aside before power lines came?
Or was the Owner short funds for that kind of thing?
If funds were no problem, did they just like to treadle?
If that’s what they liked, perhaps no need to meddle.
I fitted a handcrank and an ugly old case,
and with sewing machine oil, I wiped off its face.
With very little effort, it was brought back to sew,
how long it had been idle, I’ll just never know.
So now in Oklahoma, it once again sews,
each time that I use it, it just takes off and goes.
What travels had brought it to my fair state?
Has it lived here for long, or arrived as of late?
By the time that I found it, nothing left but the head.
in a stack of machines in an old storage shed,
Heads stacked in a bin, about 4 machines deep,
this old machine was near the bottom of the heap.
Dusty, forgotten, and looking forlorn,
no wonder its finish is looking so worn.
But each of its flaws could tell an event,
of who it lived with, and where with them went.
To mess with its finish, I know very well,
erases the history, the machine is trying to tell.
The bad things that happened, need not to be known,
the abuse, the neglect, the time spent all alone.
But I’ll imagine the good times that it has been in,
and wonder as to where and with whom it has been.
Whoever has had it, probably more than just one,
has certainly used this old son-of-a-gun!
So I think that I’ll keep it, just as it appears,
and wonder how it made it through all of its years.
CD in Oklahoma
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