Poems for Pleasure", to His Dearest Mother and Father, Who Would Have Been So Proud to Have Read His Delightful Works Had They Been Alive Today to Enjoy Them
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
1 1 1924-2012 2 All rights reserved Made and Printed in Great Britain by E. G. ELLIS & SONS CRAWFORD HOUSE, WILLOW STREET LONDON E4 7EG 3 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dennis Penfold was born in Walthamstow on the 8th of February, 1924. He was educated at Winns Avenue Senior School, where he spent many happy years of his childhood. He has always had a flair for writing stories and poems, and his favourite subject at school was English and Grammar. His English master was Mr. Green, whom he respected and loved very much. He encouraged Dennis Penfold in his writings and poems, and soon became aware of his hidden talent in this field. His Headmaster was Mr. Gracey, a very forthright and well respected and loved man, who was a credit to the school. Very often when the other kids were out playing in the streets of an evening. Dennis Penfold would be indoors with his paper and pen, writing his short stories and poems. His talent soon became widespread, and many of his friends and relations were asking him to write poems for them. He was an acquaintance of the late James Hilton, who wrote stories for the Evening Standard, and who later became a very famous author of that period in the thirties. He wrote "Goodbye Mr. Chips", "Lost Horizon" and many other well-known books which were ultimately made into films featuring many famous stars. Now Dennis Penfold hopes to follow in his footsteps, and is at this moment in the throes of writing his very interesting biography. He dedicates this book, "Poems for Pleasure", to his dearest Mother and Father, who would have been so proud to have read his delightful works had they been alive today to enjoy them. DENNIS JACK PENFOLD 4 The sun was always shining, my heart was full of joy, those happy days that T loved so, when I was just a boy. The world somehow seemed different, the pace of life was slow, my eyes begin to fill with tears, as memories fondly flow. I look back with nostalgia. it's just like a sweet refrain, I would change but not a single day, if I could live my life again. 5 List of Contents Sweet Yesterday ...................................................................................................... 8 Second Sight ............................................................................................................ 9 Song of Venice ...................................................................................................... 11 A Troubled Mind ................................................................................................... 11 Our Loving Father ................................................................................................. 13 On The Edge Of The Abyss .................................................................................. 16 Dark Victory .......................................................................................................... 17 Life On The Dole................................................................................................... 19 The English Rose ................................................................................................... 20 Pussykins ............................................................................................................... 21 When Old Friends Meet ........................................................................................ 23 Life Hereafter ........................................................................................................ 24 Down By The River............................................................................................... 26 Petticoat Lane ........................................................................................................ 26 Memories Sweet .................................................................................................... 28 Red Rose................................................................................................................ 29 A Mother’s Love ................................................................................................... 30 Southend-On-Sea ................................................................................................... 31 A Tribute To Winston Churchill ........................................................................... 32 Memory Lane ........................................................................................................ 33 Mother ................................................................................................................... 33 People Like Us ...................................................................................................... 35 Heartbreak House .................................................................................................. 36 Just Like It Was ..................................................................................................... 38 My Treasure .......................................................................................................... 39 Golden Days .......................................................................................................... 40 Looking Back ........................................................................................................ 42 Lest We Forget ...................................................................................................... 44 6 Nostalgia Street ..................................................................................................... 46 Love ....................................................................................................................... 48 Childhood Days ..................................................................................................... 49 Memories Are Made Of This ................................................................................ 50 The Penny World ................................................................................................... 52 Footsteps In The Snow .......................................................................................... 54 How It Used To Be ................................................................................................ 55 Dreams Of Long Ago ............................................................................................ 57 Mick The Monkey ................................................................................................. 58 God’s Creatures ..................................................................................................... 59 The Hospice ........................................................................................................... 61 The Thirties ........................................................................................................... 62 All Creatures Great And Small .............................................................................. 64 A Touch Of Nostalgia ........................................................................................... 65 My Mother ............................................................................................................. 66 When We Were Kids ............................................................................................. 67 Hard Times ............................................................................................................ 69 Where Peace Is Gold ............................................................................................. 70 When n God Took You From Me ......................................................................... 72 There Was A Time ................................................................................................ 72 A Tender Thought ................................................................................................. 74 Locket Of Love ..................................................................................................... 75 Heavenly Father .................................................................................................... 75 When I Lost You ................................................................................................... 76 For Richer For Poorer ............................................................................................ 76 Disclaimer ............................................................................................................. 79 7 Sweet Yesterday Memories are treasures I keep in my heart. they are all I have left, 'til this world I depart, I love to look back, as I slowly grow old, to the years that have passed—for to me they were gold. Here's just a few of the things that we did, back in the thirties, when I was a kid. I always looked forward to Saturday night an evening excursion filled me with delight, one and ninepence, a ticket to "Southend-on-Sea", or, if you preferred it. to "Canvey" or "Leigh". It was Blackhorse Road Station where we caught the train, almost every week-end we would go there again; the train was so packed that you fought for a scat, if you stood all the way, people nod on your feet. Most people went there to see all the lights, and that's how they spent all their Saturday nights. Fourpence would buy you your sausage and mash. a jolly good supper, if you had the cash. Backward and forward the crowd used to roam, and sing all the way on the train coming home. Sometimes Sunday morning, if it did not rain, my father would take me to "Petticoat Lane". we were pushed, and were shoved, all the