Play
Children splash in puddles,
see how far their snot stretches,
shout louder than lions.
It’s vital, educational,
expressing themselves, letting off steam
Until they learn that sitting still is better
than finding equilibrium on a single chair leg,
and silence is preferable to yodelling.
‘Thank you very much,’ and ‘please may I?’
get you further than ‘fuuuuuuck!’ and ‘bollocks!’
though the reaction will be more entertaining.
Then exams, jobs, taxes, vitamins, tidying up.
Responsibility.
You put nonsense away, neatly in a box.
Stack it beside camping equipment, baubles
and those cards with jolly signatures,
scribbled by people you can’t remember.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
