Accident in the Barn
By larry r linville

When I was a child I never heard
my father use a four letter word.
I never knew his humor was great
Until I’ve begun to cogitate.

“Are we going to clean out manure?”
I thought we were but I wasn’t sure.
“No, I’m going to manure,” he said
But his words didn’t get in my head.

I understood not his bodily need
But I climbed to the hayloft with great speed.
I grabbed a pitchfork that I would use
and hurried back to clean the refuse.

In my haste I fell to the floor
and rolled around feeling so sore.
Pulling up his pants he came to me
and carried me for my mom to see

She started to cry and asked “what’s up?”
while I whimpered like a scared pup.
That’s when my father became a clown
and said “I got caught with my pants down.”