Owned a pair o' skates onc't.--Traded <br />Fer 'em,--stropped 'em on and waded <br />Up and down the crick, a-waitin' <br />Tel she'd freeze up fit fer skatin'. <br />Mildest winter I remember-- <br />More like Spring- than Winter-weather!-- <br />Did n't _frost_ tel bout December- <br />Git up airly ketch a' feather <br />Of it, mayby, 'crost the winder-- <br />Sunshine swinge it like a cinder! <br /> <br />Well--I _waited_--and _kep_' waitin'! <br />Couldn't see my money's w'oth in <br />Them-air skates and was no skatin', <br />Ner no hint o' ice ner nothin'! <br />So, one day--along in airly <br />Spring--I swopped 'em off--and barely <br />Closed the dicker, 'fore the weather <br />Natchurly jes slipped the ratchet, <br />And crick--tail-race--all together, <br />Froze so tight cat couldn't scratch it!<br /><br />James Whitcomb Riley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-hoodoo/
