The Lustre Jug
by Charmian Koed
The lustre jug on the top of the dresser
Shining through the decades and the miles from ‘home’
A wedding gift from “her at the big house”
“That jug’s for you, pet.”
But what say if Grandad hadn’t gone to war
And hadn’t knocked on Grandma’s door?
Then we wouldn’t have been born!
All that washing in the roller presser
And all that fleece for the spinning wheel and comb
Cooking meals for the shearers and the rousies
“..plenty of work in this old girl yet!”
Yes, we would, we would have been born!
But we wouldn’t be us; we’d be some other
With a different father and a different mother.
The lustre jug still sits on the dresser
Still is the icon which for me means home
Full of family memories which time can’t douse
Full of family wishes that can’t be met>