Alice Saves Paper
written by: Ingrid Bruck
Our mother, Alice, is a reader,
just like our father, Chuck.
Too much work. Too many kids.
Too many bills.
They read all the time.
Not enough reading time.
Alice saves every paper and magazine.
They subscribe to Reader’s Digest.
Times Union & Knickerbocker News.
Life, The Saturday Evening Post.
Alice relishes every word.
Cuts out articles, saves pictures.
Unread paper grows in great stacks.
Heaps move down the cellar stairs.
Piles line the back door steps
all the way down to the basement.
Paper stores grow taller than children.
Alice works, reads, plants flowers.
She washes and line dries hills of laundry.
Both parents work days,
afterward, they escape house and children.
They endured the Depression.
Money earned buys survival
but surplus gets spent: books, treats, gifts.
Money buys your hopes and dreams.
Alice donates to feed the hungry children,
depletes the checkbook saving dogs and cats.
She plays Sweepstakes with vigor,
pays psychics to help her win.
Unlike her sister Mary or their father,
there’s no tin-can-bank buried in our backyard.
Depression schooled Alice learned well:
spend what you have while you can.
- Alice Saves Paper - July 8, 2026
- Runaway Horses - March 25, 2026
- Canned Peas - March 9, 2025
