We Were the Rebels: Grandmothers Who Grew up in the 50s, A Lyric Essay

We know more than you think,
You Gen Z and Millennials
Scrolling and tapping.

 1.     On Warm Days

 We built forts and tree houses
From old wooden boards
Stacked in the dusty garage.
We drove nails into scrap lumber to fix up
An ancient broken-down cabin
Hidden in the woods.

We lashed thick tree branches together
With frayed clothesline.
To design a raft for floating in the creek.
We had to balance just right
Not to topple into cold water.
We experimented with tying fishing flies 
With blue jay feathers from the woods.
We dug worms for bait
In soft garden soil.

We waited for the bobber to dive,
And when the line snapped tight,
Caught bluegills, and sunfish.
Sometimes a fat bass
Swallowed the worm, bobber plunging deep
And the pole, a sturdy tree limb, bending tip into the pond.
We scaled and cleaned the fish.
Mothers cooked them in sizzling butter.

 On hot summer days, we sprayed each other
With the green garden hose.
Or rode bikes to the river swimming hole.
No helmets, no lifeguards, no parents.
But, had to watch out for older boys who
Cannonballed in from the road above.
If we were underneath— curtains.

We rode bikes everywhere, to the library
Checking out favorite Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys,
Or books about horses, and olden times.
Playing cards clicked in our spokes,
Snapped as we rode for
Ice cream cones in the next town—
They had more than three flavors.

Hey, Gen Z, are you watching TikTok or
Tweeting a Tweet? Slouched on the couch
Feet on the seat?

We were fearless tree climbers.
By midsummer the soles of our feet were leather.
We didn’t feel sharp bark of wild apple trees.
We scaled fragrant pines.
Hands, clothes, and feet suffered
The effects of sticky pitch.

 We jumped rope, double-Dutch showing our prowess.
Played jacks, or flicked marbles on the ground in a circle
Drawn with a stick in hard dirt.
The shooters, prized for color and size.

We knew the seasonal wildflowers,
Summer: frilly Queen Ann’s Lace, and pink Yarrow.
We recognized the local birds, the “conk-la-ree” of
Red-wing blackbirds in marsh reeds,
And the false broken wing struggle of killdeer
Protecting a nest nearby.

 We picked wild blueberries
For snacks or baking a mouth-watering pie.
We roller-skated on hot sidewalks in town,
Our skates clamped on our shoes and
Tightened with metal keys

And we worked:
Cultivated, on the tractor,
The vegetable garden,
Burned trash on Fridays
In a rusted oil barrel,
Fed fragrant grain to goats
When they came from pasture.
Helped to milk them
As they stamped hooves in stanchions.
Pulled persistent weeds from the garden,
Repaired farm equipment and buildings,
(The tractor was on life support.)
Arranged hay bales on the wagon.
Diapered little siblings in cloth diapers
As they squealed, “No, No, No!”
Helped with a carpentry project like
Building a HiFi cabinet with Dad in the garage.

 Eat your heart out Gen Z and Millennials,
As you scroll, tap, tweet, and twitch,
You are missing wild outdoor summers
Discovering, creating, imagining,
Acquiring life experience,
Learning social skills.

 2.     On Cold Days

At age five,
We laced our own ice skates.
We strapped on
Wooden skis Grandpa made.
In the icy air,
Our mittened fingers frozen,
We glided on the ice.
Wind burning our cheeks,
We hurtled downhill on our skis.

After school we played pond hockey,
Snowboots for goals,
No pads, no helmets.
The puck could strike from anywhere.

We lay on our backs in fresh powder,
Made snow angels.
In wet snow
We rolled large snowballs and piled
Them up for snowmen
With pebbled eyes
And a carrot nose stolen
From the frig.

 We learned
To knit scarves and sweaters.
We learned to sew on
Grandmother’s treadle sewing machine
Clicking and clacking in the kitchen.

Hey, are you paying attention, Gen Z and Millennials?
Are you gaming Minecraft, Fortnite, or The Sims?

We wrote plays, acted them out
In costumes of worn-out clothes
In living rooms with siblings and parents
As our audience.
Our plays were based on
TV shows we saw at Grandma’s:
Gene Autry, I Love Lucy, and Father Knows Best.

We bought ten cent comic books, Archie, Little Lulu,
And Mutt and Jeff, traded and
Read them over and over.
The Lone Ranger and Stella Dallas
Were series we listened to
On the radio.

We built elaborate cities with Lincoln Logs.
With Tinker Toys and Erector Sets we designed robots,
Monsters, and speedways for our little cars.
We were experts with Yo-Yos and Cat’s Cradle.
We loved our View Master
Reels of Annie Oakley and Roy Rogers.
We cut paper dolls from the Sears Catalogue.
With our mothers and grandmothers
We baked molasses ginger snaps,
Fragrant apple pies, and Happy Day Cakes
For birthdays.
And licked batter from our fingers
Many times.

 Winter birthday parties meant
Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Simon Says,
Musical Chairs and cake and ice cream.

We played board games.
Monopoly marathons, set up on the floor
Went on for days and days.
Checkers, Scrabble, and Pick up Stix
Filled our snow days out of school.

45s on a record player—
Elvis, Patti Page, and Bobby Darren

We danced in our socks,
Learning from American Bandstand
On TV. We were crazy about Rock and Roll.

Listen up Millennials, and Gen Z,
Tell us what you have mastered.
What life skills can you claim
As you scroll and tap and tweet?

3.      Our Teenage Years

We were the rebels
Challenging the rules.
We pushed against racism, against war,
Against silence.
We helped lay the foundation for massive
Changes coming to our country.
We made the comfortable space
You live in now, safer, freer, bolder.

 You, Gen Z, can wear mini skirts
Because we did it first.
You can wear jeans because we did it first
Both to the raised eyebrows and reprimanding voices
Of our professors, supervisors, parents.

You can smoke weed now legally
Because we took the risk.
Long hair and beards on men are fine,
Our generation did it first.
We sat in. We walked out,
Refusing to obey unfair laws.
You can sit wherever you want on the bus,
In the theater, and drink out of any water fountain
Because of us.

We protested against
Nuclear weapons, the draft, and segregation
In all its forms.
We joined the civil rights movement
And marched, demanding equal rights,
carrying signs on the sidewalk
At the White House.

We were Pacifists or Conscientious Objectors,
We listened to the protest music of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez,
Began feminist organizations demanding women’s liberation,
Filed lawsuits against discrimination,
Burned our bras.
Wrote grants to open the first Family Planning Clinics.

How did we do all that?
We learned as kids to build, solve, invent, and imagine.
We learned to work with others, to persist.

 Gen Z and Millennials, now it’s your turn
To stand up for your rights,
For free speech, free assembly,
For justice, inclusion, and equity.
Everyone needs to breathe a little tear gas.
We did that.
Now it’s your turn.
Will you just continue
Scrolling through social media
Or will you rise
To stop evil now in motion
To annihilate our way of life.
Gen Z and Millennials, it is up to you.    

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