Ed Galing

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 The worst thing about
	growing up poor
	    in south philly

was the welfare lady
	that came once
	a month

She looked so strict and
		stern
and she carried a large
	   briefcase
and when she sat down she
	would open it up and take
	       out all kinds of papers
and ask all kinds of questions.

My mom always answered polite
	 and never got fresh or impolite
but sometimes I could see that
	my mom was ready to cry.

the welfare lady would look around
	the three little rooms we lives
	     in on the third floor

and sake her head and act like she
	wanted to get out of here in a
		hurry

for which I couldn’t blame her.

	 cause I felt the same
		way myself.		

			from Bloody and Living; Poems and Stories
					Black Spring Press
       

 

Ed Galing is the grand old man of the small press poetry scene. Now, 95, confined to a wheelchair, he writes every day, submits and has published dozens of collections of poems, cartoons and stories. He is he poet laureate of Hatsboro, PA, where he lives and writes.