Sleeping Out

 

When I was very young with not much fun to do,
Sleeping out in the backyard would often help you.
The poem describes how we found lots of good fun
Just sleeping with friends until the morning sun.

 

 

 

 

 

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Sleeping Out

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When I was about 12 years old sleeping outside was fun to do.
My friends and I slept in the back yard with a blanket or two.
On the transistor radio, we listened to Oklahoma Cities’ KOMA.
Top 40 rock music was our favorite, what more can I say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We told dirty jokes to each other and laughed until we hurt.
We talked about girls with which we would like to just flirt,
And dreamed about dating the very best looking of them.
We counted the stars as if we could finish before they got dim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sometimes when we slept out, my sister went on a date.
We would hide in the bushes when she came home real late,
And watch them smooching on the porch until they did quit.
If she caught us watching her, I was in some very deep shit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About midnight when the people on the street were all asleep,
We would sneak off and walk away from our home street
To find fun things to do while we had no adult keepers.
We put pillows in our beds to make it look like we were sleepers.

 

 

 

 

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Out of the neighborhood we traveled like we were grown up.
The first stop was the watermelon patch and with any luck,
We would pick out two good ones and carry them far away,
Then we would eat both of them feeling like little kings of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We would poke sparrows out of clothes line poles into sacks.
And slip them inside a screen doors by opening just a crack.
The doorbell we would ring, and then watch the birds fly inside,
While the homeowner cursed and ducked trying hard to hide.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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If we were still hungry we would stop at a garden we knew,
And get cucumbers and carrots that were easy to chew.
We felt like masters of our own little young peoples domain.
The only thing that could stop us was a hard summers rain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About three in the morning we headed for our home stay.
We crawled under the blankets and fell asleep to end the day.
The dog would wake me in the morning by licking my face.
And I slowly would get up moving at a very slow pace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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No one ever knew of the wild adventures we have known
While sleeping outdoors in the backyard of our little home.
I was “just being a boy” with some of the neighborhood kids.
Even Mom and Dad never knew about the things that we did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Those things we did remain fresh in my own memory banks,
And we didn’t do any serious damage with our little pranks.
But after I grew up, I knew what we did was just not right,
So all you youngsters out there, please don’t try this tonight.

 

 

 

 

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By Bill

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks for reading Sleeping Out again,
Bill