Well Adjusted

I watch a happy father standing proudly
While his too-well-adjusted three-year-old
Announces, “Bottom, bottom, bottom!” loudly,
Which seems to leave a few spectators cold
But I’m O.K. with it, thinking that kids
Should learn to curse more freely than they do.
Too many grown-ups freeze, or flip their lids
And swoon, gasping when they at last come to,
Pretending that they’ve never heard before
Such crude, distressing language in their lives.
So I say, “Bottom!” to them, three times more.
Bring on the drama, cry, pull out your knives,
And lie about how children used to be
When you were children. Clearly not like me.