That First Naughty Word
Couldn’t say it as a kid because it was a sin -
To say that small four letter word - what trouble I got in!
A girl who was my babysitter taught the word to me.
But then at eight, I learned that word’s effect on family. . .
Mischievous and curious were cousin Steve and I;
he too had learned that naughty word. It happened by and by
(after we’d discussed it some and what the bad word meant)
we voiced it ALOUD at a reunion and got sent
to another room where we were scolded mightily.
And for a long while, that foul word was uttered not by me!
Well, you can say that word (these days) -in certain company:
like with bikers and delinquents or my son, an ex-Marine!
But I don’t like to say the word, except when very mad
and in my car in traffic jams: (that’s when I say things bad!)
Then nasty words I’ve read or heard from friends or on TV
become the very words I hear come pouring out of me.
It’s strange how that first naughty word I learned I must not say
is now a word that (if I want to) I can say today!
Nonetheless, I keep that word under lock and key.
I’m glad that we can’t use it here to ruin our poetry!
For the "You Can Say it Now" Contest by Paula Swanson
Copyright © Andrea Dietrich | Year Posted 2010
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