Rabbits Ears

Not the furry kind

R …. day 18 and time for a bit of telly 🙂

I remember when we got a telly first

Janey Mack, we were all fit to burst

We scrambled for a place on the sofa

Eleven of us, pushing each other over

Causing murder, making a big din

We waited anxiously as Da plugged it in

The screen stayed blank for such a long time

Then there was just zig zag lines

‘It’s the ariel’ said Da,holding it up over his head

‘Can you see it now?’ ‘No Da, it’s still dead’

Well he moved it up,he moved it down

He even lay with it on the ground

He opened the window,held the ariel outside

When the picture appeared,he swelled up with pride

‘Now what do you all think of that’?

‘Not much’ said me brother,the little brat

Don’t you be a smart arse mister

Now for that ,you go the shops with your sister

Get me twenty sweet afton and bring back the change

Now go,while your ears are still out of range

He took the ariel inside but the zigzags came back

I thought he’d have a heart attack

‘Will I hold rabbits ears da?’ said me brother

‘There’s a button for the horizontal hold’, said me Mother

Da turned the knob,the picture became clear

Delighted,we all gave up a cheer

We watched the test card  for ages while Da had a snooze

Then woke him up to watch the News

He was delighted with his new tv

I wouldn’t mind but we’d only RTE

We sat and watched it every night

And,it was only black and white

When a neighbour died,we were in dismay

The telly was turned off. For the whole day!

‘As a mark of respect for the man’, said me Da

I thought that was going a bit too far

‘Just pull the curtains, no one will know

We’ll keep the sound down really low’

Ma told me to go straight to confession

‘I’m sorry’ I said. ‘I was only messin”

I was raging we were missing ‘Tolka Row’

And Gay Byrne on ‘The Late Late Show’

‘Do your eccer’said Da ‘or read a book,

Anyway,you’re too young to be watching that muck’

As he looked at the blank screen, I could tell

That he was missing his programmes aswell

The novelty wore off after a couple of days

We got bored with the test card and went out to play

My Da would be delighted if he was still here

Now that we have cable and not rabbits ears.

*eccer* Irish slang for homework 🙂