Last night Ma said to Pa: 'My dear, <br />The Williamsons are coming here <br />To visit for a week or two, <br />An' I must have a talk with you. <br />We need some things which we must get- <br />You promised me a dinner set, <br />An' I should like it while they're here.' <br />An' Pa looked up an' said: 'My dear, <br />A dinner set? Well, I guess not. <br />What's happened to the one we've got?' <br /> <br />'We need a parlor rug,' says Ma. <br />'We've got a parlor rug,' says Pa. <br />'We ought to have another chair.' <br />'You're sittin' in a good one there.' <br />'The parlor curtains are a fright.' <br />'When these are washed they look all right.' <br />'The old stuff's pitiful to see.' <br />'It still looks mighty good to me.' <br />'The sofa's worn beyond repair.' <br />'It doesn't look so bad, I swear.' <br /> <br />'Gee Whiz, you make me tired,' says Ma. <br />'Why, what's the matter now?' says Pa. <br />'You come an' go an' never see <br />How old our stuff has grown to be; <br />It still looks just the same to you <br />As what it did when it was new, <br />An' every time you think it strange <br />That I should like to have a change.' <br />'I'm gettin' old,' says Pa. 'Maybe <br />You'd like a younger man than me.' <br /> <br />'If this old rug was worn an' thin, <br />At night you'd still come walkin' in <br />An' throw your hat upon a chair <br />An' never see a single tear; <br />So long as any chair could stand <br />An' bear your weight you'd think it grand. <br />If home depended all on you, <br />It never would get something new.' <br />'All right,' says Pa, 'go buy the stuff! <br />But, say, am I still good enough?'<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-ma-wants-something-new/
