Harder Times

Friend, I've got some Harder Times.

No, my life’s no worse than yours.

That was the title of the

Harder family newsletter

that my mother used to write.

My sister found a stack in

Mom's old boxes.

 

I think the whole thing started,

back in the early Fifties,

after Mom had overheard

Granddad Harder’s tired old joke

about a local skinflint:

"Old Stone is a hard man, but

I'm still Harder!"

Mom took that and ran with it.

While most folks were still writing

short notes in their Christmas cards,

she took the mimeograph,

the one she’d bought for church work,

and started a newspaper

on a small scale.

She had a homemade light box

that she used; with a stylus,

traced pictures on the stencil,

alongside the family news.

Before the Times ceased printing,

Mom upgraded to Xerox,

with photographs.

The Times never lost its soul,

as the creative outlet

of the amazing mind of

that young Bible college grad

whose mission field was family.

If Mom were still living now,

she'd be an avid blogger

and go viral.

Copyright ©2018, Paul H. Harder II

This poem is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 License.