Thought for the Day: I Remember

The look you get from a child should remind you when you tell him, 

"Wait until tomorrow."

Thought for the Day: Work Tracks

Choose the advice you follow carefully.

There are no calluses on the hands of self appointed experts.

©Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day: Love

Love is not given to careful evaluations of practical matters.

It revs up its engine and races til it splatters or solidifies.

©Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day:Illusions

The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.

Alexandr Pushkin - poet, novelist, playwright (1799 - 1837)

Thought for the Day: Knowledge

If you don't know, ask, then two people will believe the same thing.

©Herb Ratliff

Thought for the Day

It was Sisyphus who brought us rock and roll.
And Narcissus found the pool in which beauty doth extol.
But neither could deliver
Cupids missile from his quiver
So love, was sadly eaten by a troll.

©Herb Ratliff - All Rights Reserved

But Echo loved Art Deco

Why Not Dance?

If we’re kept within a prison

there’s no lock can make us stay.

Lest our hapless, weary posture

simply let’s us waste away.

And if songs are sung around us

in the Winter or the Spring

But our voice is deathly silent

It’s not the fault of quieting.

When the wren darts to the sill plate

of the window we look out

And the song bursts from his small heart

lauding life and love, no doubt.

Dare we not release the handcuffs

which lock us down each day

And find somewhere within us

Something good or kind to say?

Reach out farther, oh my brother,

give your heart and mind a chance

Lift your spirit and your heels

It is your life, so why not dance?

Herb Ratliff, January 4, 2013, All Rights Reserved

Dew Drop In

Thought For The Day

The air is heavy with moisture,

orb webs beaded with droplets

of dew drape like bejeweled tapestries.

The birds sing with more insistence,

their voices loud in the early morning light,

bright with promise, each singing 

just a bit louder than his neighbor.

And my neighbor because we live next to a pasture,

insists a rooster belongs here with his brood

who crows victoriously and teases the hawk

who lives in the tallest pine across the meadow.

The great red tail lifts his voice to the chorus

It is morning, time to celebrate.

Herb Ratliff, April 17, 2012, All Rights Reserved

River Magic

River Magic

You'll find me sitting by the water,

staring in it or around

watching all that starts

or ends there,

with or without any sound.

In the Spring it's mayfly hatches,

rising off the placid surface

while the trout's now lurking shadow

waits to dine, his only purpose.

Then the summer's rich delivery

when fish and insects do abound

I'll seek the shadows haunts to sleep in

hearing only water's sound.

Fall begets the tiny midges,

dragon flies and water sprites

then I fear that winter's coming

shorter days and longer nights.

Bundled up in downy vestments,

mesmerized by bluest skies

I think of all the trout engagements

ending in a sweet good bye.

©Herb Ratliff, December 5, 2011, All Rights Reserved.

Is It Here?

Is It Here?

The words were spoken with too much force

not to be a promise 

or was it a warning

but a warning is a promise

or is that a threat?

I know you meant to disturb me

it's in your nature somehow

it seems to make you feel

important, strong, in control

- really?

Weather is still not 

an exact science,

even though Science

is what you use, 

Science and

Manipulation. 

It's seven fifty four AM

and still

there is no snow.

Herb Ratliff, November 29, 2011 All Rights Reserved