Don't Do That Again!

Strange as it may seem, this poem contains real incidents from my childhood. How could someone who puts a picture of himself on his blog sitting in the Goodwin Library at the Oxford Union have been so stupid as a kid? I don't know. But I learned not to do it again.

Don’t Do That Again!
Christopher Bogart

Do you remember the day when you were three
and you pushed your little finger
into the light socket to see
what turned the lights on?
Shocking, wasn’t it?
Don’t do that again!

You remember, at four, when you thought
mothballs smelled so great
that you put them up your nose
to get a better whiff,
and you sniffed?
Don’t sniff that again!

Do you remember at five,
when the kid down the street
suggesting you quench your thirst
with a glass of kerosene?
And you drank it?
Don’t drink it again!

Do you remember when you were six,
when you decided to pet
the cute little organ grinder’s monkey
on Flatbush Avenue…
and he bit you?
Don’t pet him again!

Do you remember when you were seven
and you loved the smell of DDT so much
that you jumped on the back of the truck
for a ride?
Were you crazy?
Don’t do that again!

And one lonely night, when you were eight,
and you thought you heard something so very strange
come creeping out
from under your bed…?
Take my advice.
Cover your head.
Don’t look, like you did then.
Don’t do that again!