[Roger Slater]

My fingertip taps on the glass
And numbers appear iPhone style.
It works very well, but alas,
How I miss my old rotary dial!

I loved how my fingertip fit
In the dent of each well-defined hole
And I never regretted one bit
All the time that the spinning wheel stole

As each number got spun to the top
And returned, though it did take a while.
Oh why did those glory days stop?
How I miss my old rotary dial!

[Jayne Osborn]

Washday was on Mondays in the 50s; women did
the laundry with some wooden tongs, a boiler and a tub.
I always loved the smell of Mondays when I was a kid,
not knowing how much work it was. I’d watch my mother scrub
Dad’s collars, cuffs; she’d starch the whites, the whole load done by hand.
I loved the mangle best of all, which squeezed out tons of water.
“Please mind your fingers!” Mum would warn. I didn’t understand
that one day roles would be reversed: I’d say that to my daughter
(but not about a mangle). Heavens, they’ve long vanished now.
When I say “Mind your fingers” it’s the car door that I mean;
I can’t imagine many children these days knowing how
that charming old contraption served, instead of a machine!
The family washing took all day to do, and life was hard,
but simple little pleasures compensated, I suppose.
I feel a warm nostalgia for that thing in our back yard
and smile to think: A mangle? What on earth was one of those?

[Brian Allgar]

Lovely, Jayne. My Mum used to have a mangle. I'd even forgotten the word.

I think "she’s" in line 5 should be "she’d".

(See? I've been paying attention. People who say that my attention span these days is that of a goldfish should wash their mouths out with soap and wossname.)

[Jayne Osborn]

Thank you Brian. I've corrected that typo.

My attention span is good too. In fact...

...what was I saying just then?

Drat. I've sent it to Lucy with the typo in it. John, what should I do? Completely re-submit it? Or send her an email? I'm sure she'd realise I meant she'd!!

[Chris O'Carroll]

Jayne, in similar situations, I've just resubmitted the entire poem with a brief note explaining that there was a mistake in the original submission.

[Jayne Osborn]

Thanks, Chris. I've done that.

[David Anthony]

Jayne, I think that's lovely. It's serious, which perhaps will prevent it winning the prize. It's a fine poem.
Martin, when you mentioned the most famous cricketing poem I immediately thought of this:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/vita-lampada/

[Martin Elster]

I like your mangle poem, Jayne.

[John Whitworth]

Lovely mangle, Jayne. Cricket poems. Here's my favourite.

I wish you'd speak to Mary, Nurse,
She's really getting worse and worse.
Just now, when Tommy gave her out
She cried, and then began to pout.
And then she tried to take the ball
Although she cannot bowl at all.
And now she's standing on the pitch,
The miserable little bitch.

Hilaire Belloc

[Jayne Osborn]

Thank you David, Martin and John.

(David, I've always loved that Newbolt poem. Thanks for reminding me of it.)

My 'mangle' poem, if it fails to win a Speccie place, will at least be one that I can pull out for readings, so it's a useful addition to my repertoire. I reckon that 99% of the people I read to will have used a mangle, or will know what it was!