WoooooooHooooooo! (Clap clap! Stomp stomp!)

Winter caught us
long pants filled the bill

Fall slipped back
those shorts are keeping my tan going

Desert is a great place
upside down reflection of the ocean

neither one has forgiveness
screw up you die

long pants or shorts
Choice can save your life

Place where you can freeze to death
right after you got a sunburn

Remember when you were a kid?
and everything was a wonderment?

Late at night or early in the morning
dark outside...doesn't matter

Old man thoughts that intrude when ever
and when don't care...so it's dark out

Get out of bed and laugh quietly, wife wondering what is that old fool up to now? Of course this makes it even funnier and makes her just a bit more curious. "Midnight snack?". Smile and a 'no'. She can hear the tab pull on the beer, and makes me smile when she rearranges the bed clothes in that fussy way that hens do when disturbed on the perch.

Hen left the nest cooing and muttering to herself
rooster slowly strutting by, wondering why can't I?

shiny new egg on the straw
hen wondering why it has to be her

My parents are sitting on the front porch
it is dusk and they are drinking coffee

My mother was never prepared for me so once in awhile I would show off. Neighborhood is ringing with the sounds of how much and how far and the game is hide and seek. There is ivy growing at the edge of the fence directly in front of my parents and that is where I chose to hide. Three inches deep, my dad understood, my mother just snickered when I took off my 'T' shirt and tucked it into the front of my pants. A hundred feet, one zig, one zag to reach home base...laid face down in the ivy and waited.

Remember when you knew things
and didn't know why?

The world was unencumbered
and you were as big as your imagination

Evening breeze stroked my back
my mothers tension made me smile

My fathers zest for life coursed through my veins
my mother felt our connection, and surprised...

I was up and running...he looked the wrong way and took one step to many. Slapped a safe on the base and wandered back toward my parents putting on my 'T' shirt against the cooling night. Sat on the porch next to my mother and waited for 'oly-oly-ouction'. Her surprise still clung to her, but shivering went in to think the thoughts of mothers.

Bewildered comes to mind so often
Must be the rooster in me

Wonderment is everywhere
hope this means I get to be a kid again

Lonely, can make you hurt so bad
Alone, can make your smile whisper

Whispers touch the face and hands

Old friends...those face and hands
kissed and held those babies

Babies don't see the wrinkles or the spots

Burp, urp or change my pants; baby love
and then they love you all over again

Babies kill lonely every time

Being naive and unaware
living with joy, air, earth

Brother suppressing laughter
pea shooters in the living room

Mother taking a nap...
"What's that noise"..."nothing"

Laying behind chair forts
smothering laughter that can bring pain

Slipped out the front door
running down the street

letting out the noise of two small bodies

Looked at the clock and found the time
When did that happen?

Looked up the year and found it
When did that happen?

Can you care for chickens or hogs?
not much time but got to build that smokehouse

Can you do it for yourself?
Fish need water, so do all the others

Fish is the time what happens next is the water
Don't give me your tears, give me your hands

Wow, that is awesome! Sad, but awesome.

Can't tell you if they have a telephone
Don't know the number on the house or the street

Why was my child overlooked
it was an awards ceremony?

But they do have a cell phone
for texting to someone six feet away

because they weren't giving out moron awards
or your child would have had the gold six footer

Tortillas never taste right
when you are mad as hell and crying

Home is the sounding board

The yard shifts with the weather
the house is still standing

Glad to be here when you get home



perfect has never been a problem