Poems for those who remember: Kane resident Francis Wolfe Haight recently shared a booklet of poetry with us. She informed us she began writing poetry and stories at the age of 10. Her first poem was about snowflakes and was printed in her school newspaper.

We shared some of her poetry from that booklet yesterday. Today, we have three more poems written by Haight to share.

Rock-a-bye

One of my earliest memories,

Is being rocked to sleep,

And Grandma’s lap so snuggled

And warmed up little feet.

If chilly, she wrapped me with her apron,

Or covered me with a throw,

She sang some of the sweet old songs,

And my love for her did grow.

She put my hair into braids

With bangs hanging on the front,

Big ribbons were tied in back

Sometimes boys pulled, especially the runt.

Boys untied my ribbons,

And ran so fast away,

I couldn’t catch them at all

But I tied my ribbons up anyway.

———

Games

Hide and Go Seek was a game

Our favorite one, I think,

Red Rover always was fun

And Lemonade before we blink.

Puss In the Corner was fun

And School was another,

Sometimes we played them all

With our friends and my brother.

Remember Old Lady In the Cellar?

Hopscotch and Kick the Can?

So much fun each day

As we laughed and ran and ran.

I’m so glad I grew up

And had a childhood like I did,

We had it all — altho it was nothing

According to today’s kid.

———

Cold Weather

We wanted to go skating at the park

And away we strolled,

Sometimes we went to Butler’s pond,

Either way, we were bold.

None of us skated very well,

And at times too cold to stay for long,

But we enjoyed it for awhile,

And in our hearts was a song.

My skate laces were tied tight,

And I had to have help to remove,

The thick socks had kept me warm,

And I stayed in a skating mood.

In addition to The Bradford Era, Haight’s work has appeared in Erie Times-News, Good Old Days magazine, Poetry Press, World of Poetry, and numerous other newsletters and media.