They were turning sweet-potatoes in the old lower field,
On a hot summer day, it was sunny and still.
They brought their poles, and when the work was done,
They planned to go fishing in the near-by pond.
Just two young boys without burden or worry,
But things changed that day in an awful hurry.
The wind blew hard from west and the south,
Cliff told Louie, "Let’s go to the house,
Untie the mule, I’ll open the gate. "
By this time now, it was just too late.
The sky turned black and the lightning flashed,
And young Louie Gordon breathed his last.
Nobody knows if Cliff got hit,
He spent the rest of his days just trying to forget.
They say Cliff Gordon was never the same,
Then one day he ended his pain.
Now the Gordon brothers are fishing together,
In the Sea of Peace and eternal fair weather.

~~~~~~


A NOTE FROM RALPH: “A few years ago I decided to write my family history using prose and poetry. Gone Fishing is a true story that occurred on my Grandfather Gordon's farm in the 1930s. Some think the story is morbid, but I prefer to believe it has a happy ending."

His songs have been recorded by The Mountain Gypsies of Rogers, Arkansas, Richelle Putnam, and award winning gospel artist Morris Mott. Gordon is the author of the nonfiction book, The Invasion of 64. His short stories and poetry have been published in The Oxford So and So, usadeepsouth.com, The Oxford Town, The Meridian Star, The Newton Record, The Union Appeal and Wildlife Mississippi. Gordon is also a regular contributor to the Journal of the Newton County Historical Society. One of his poems was selected by the Union County Public Library to be featured in the William Faulkner Garden Collection. The Mississippi Department of Tourism displays Gordon's poetry at the State Welcome Centers. The welcome centers also play his music, recorded by various artists.

In January, 2007, Gordon was commissioned by the Newton Theater Company and the Newton Chamber of Commerce to write a Civil War drama. He was joined by fellow writers Richelle Putnam and Anne McKee. The trio delivered the final manuscript of A Mother’s Son to the Chamber of Commerce in June of 2007. The play was produced by the Newton Theater Company the following December in front of a large audience including such dignitaries as Mississippi Lt. Governor Amy Tuck and Mississippi Arts Commission Executive Director Malcolm White.

Gordon and Putnam co-wrote an eight-song musical score for the play. The Gordon/Putnam team has also co-written A Forrest For A Child, No Harvest Have I, and many others. They plan to release their first video sometime in 2008 featuring the song, A Forrest For A Child.