When I was 5

When I was five years old.                                
Mister Johnson lived next door.                      
He talked to me at the fence, I'm told.                
He thought it was necessary
To test my growing vocabulary                    

Can you say "****"?
No no it's a bad word I admit

How about "****" ask Sam                            
No I don't think I can say it

How about "*******" he ask.                  
I don't know about that
                            
Better go ask your mother.    
He said with a laugh




Copyright 2014
Richard L Ratliff

Hand Soap


I remember
getting in trouble
While away on vacation
Saying “go like hell” when I was 8, or 9

As an adult,
I remember,

Not to wash my mouth with soap
Because it tastes awful


Copyright 2014-16
Richard L Ratliff

Happy    

Someone ask me
Are you happy?
How do you answer
The undefinable ?
The journey from
Happiness to sadness and back
And all the living in-between
It's hard to describe the flow of life

Am I ?
Not all the time, sometimes
Being self absorbed, who knows
My children make me happy,
And anxious at the same time
Do they cancel each other out?
Does laughing at a joke count
Just who decides?

My past provides happy moments
As well as oh **** moments
And just living life moments

If Life is the night sky
All the stars are happiness
The rest is the fabric of life
Everyday life sprinkled with star light
Hidden by daylight but always there

Copyright 2016
Richard L.Ratliff

Drip

Drip drip drip drop drop
The **** kitchen faucet leaks
Those ***** dishes


Copyright 2016
Richard L Ratliff

Butterflies and snow angels

Snowflakes floating across the sky
Cause such wild seasonal thoughts
Butterflies and snow angels
As the sun shines through the grey
Rainbows and snowdrifts
While traveling from place to place
Convertibles and snow plows
And life near the beach with
Snowmen and life guards
Playtime for children
Snowballs and baseballs

Copyright 2016
Richard L Ratliff

Ducks

How do you get your
ducks to line up in a straight row
If you have only one


Copyright 2016
Richard L Ratliff

Burma-Shave    

I remember........
Getting hit in the head with the swing set;
Doctor sewing up my scalp at home,        
While setting on the step.
Taking the bus downtown with mom,
Car shopping for dad.
Picked out a Ford with a windshield sun visor.      
A two tone black and cream collage
Mom using it to  "move the garage".  

I remember family vacation:
Driving to Florida before the interstate
Before Disney became a nation
Motels with pools, swimming laps,
And all those tourists traps:
The house that reverses gravity
Burma-Shave signs leading the way        
To where the fountain of youth lay          

Driving to the lake,
Dad forgetting his hat
At the halfway restaurant cafe
Finding it still there the next year.
Those were special days

Weeks at the lake catching turtles
Cleaning fish guts and scales                        
Swimming and skiing on glass.
Great fun and no care of details
No telephone at the cabin


Copyright 2014
Richard L. Ratliff  

Published in The Indiana Voice Journal