Dear LPG

So many of us living through our 8th and 9th decades, not to mention a few of the younger pensioners today, cannot help but remember those days not long after the Second World War.  

It was as if we all accepted that things were as bad as they would get.  The reminders were all around us.  So many of our streets showed the devastation of bombing, and the only way to go was up.   Rebuilding soon became the way forward, not only on our roads but in many other countries thoroughfares and every walk of life.  

It was a time when so much more information about the cultures of peoples from other lands started to impact their national neighbours.  Along with different dialects and languages, foods, sports, and customs, popular music was one of many exports that came to us with the international troops of soldiers who lent their support.  And none more so than the songs and lyrics from the other side of the Atlantic pond.   Along with many others, music entered our British lives quite quickly, as did the realities of different aspects of their culture.  Perhaps this was when we all learned about the other choices they were being asked to make…

My poem is a reflection of some of those choices… 

Get the picture in black and white. 

Southern charm is warm. 
But there is a dividing line. 
If you want to come to no harm.

In Memphis, there is Elvis 
and Rock and Roll 
In Mississippi, there’s blues 
and soul

Each side has its own charm
Stick to your side  
And You’ll come to no harm

Racial segregation and discrimination 
Stick to your side of the line
And you will be fine

If the Klansmen come 
Beat the drums 
Fight back if they attack 

Beverly Clark

…and LPG adds some information on today’s celebration…

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