what does this poem mean?

Question

Red Wagons
c. 1958

In grammar school primers
the red wagon
was for children
pulled along
past lawns on a sunny day.
Father drove into
the driveway. "Look,
Father, look!"
Silly Sally pulled Tim
on the red wagon.

Out of school,
the red wagon carried
kerosene cans
to heat the flat.
Father pulled it to the gas
station
when he was home
and if there was money.

If not, children went to bed
in silly coats
silly socks; in the morning
were already dressed
for school.


im confused about the meaning

Answer 1

To understand the poem, you have to understand the era in which it was written, and the era it was writing about.

The poem was written in 1958, so the author was talking about things before that date.

The primers (or beginning reader's books) were very simple and had Dick and Jane, Father and Mother, Spot the dog, and toys like balls and wagons.

In the 1930s the country suffered a great depression (poverty.) By 1958 the country had recovered to a great extent, but not all of the country was as modern as it is today (For example, few homes had forced air heating.) And the author is remembering even earlier times (because the author is an adult, thus the recollections must be at least twenty years old...) and harsher times when no houses had central heating and few had natural gas.

My family was not considered "poor," but we had huge milk cans that we carried to the dairy for fresh milk... with two inches of cream floating on top. And we had kerosene cans that were used to fill the heater and lantern... and maybe to put on the wood to start a fire in the stove.

The bedrooms were not heated... so you waited under the covers until someone else got up and fired the stove back up before you got dressed.

And many times we wore "silly socks" (two or three pair) and "silly coats" to bed... and just like this author, we joked that we wanted to be ready for school.

Don't try to read hidden messages into this poem... it's telling exactly how things were.

Answer 2

The red wagon described in books is a child's toy, used for fun and games. In real life, the red wagon is used for something very serious. The poem wants to show the difference between the fantasy of books and the hardships of real life.

Answer 3

Oh yes... I remember things being just as Irma described them. The youngsters of today don't know what it's like to scoop the cream out of the top of a milk can and put it on cereal... or to have milk bottles delivered to the house on a winter day and have the cream pushed out of the bottle because the milk froze before you brought it into the house.

Those times were not as comfortable and easy as they are today, but we old folks remember them as the "good old days."

Answer 4

First part shows the great illusion of the perfect american life - red wagons are toys only - full of fun and smiles

the second shows the darker side of poverty the side that the illusion doesn't show.

the last part is the poignant reminder that the poor are among us and we don't see them due to the brainwashing of school.

Answer 5

First of all this isn't a poem. It is a bit of fiction written in short segments to add interest and to block pieces of information together.