My mother said.  “Don’t use those words,

or I’ll wash your mouth with soap!”

So do you know a tasty bar to use?

There are so many types, it seems

and everybody laughs at me

when I explain what I am looking for.

I’ve tried a few like ‘Pears’, of course

and all the other fruity ones

but they all taste horrible, in a frothy sort of way.

A pretty lady in a shop was very helpful

but it seems, she too has a boy at home

so perhaps I shouldn’t trust the things she says.

Maybe I can use the words,

that big boys say at school.

If I can only find a way to make

them not seem bad at all.

For after all I hear grown-ups say

these words all the time.

When cross or hurt or just to make

it seem worse than it really was!

It’s very hard, being small,

but with a head that’s full of space,

to learn and learn all kinds of things

even if not all of them;

are what a mother likes to hear!

 

David Garlick, Nantwich, UK, June 1999