UNREPENTANT

  


As a child of five
It seems I had a fatal flaw
Although I thought
Nothing of it all

I . . . .  was a shoplifter
I tell you this
Without remorse
I tell you this in bliss

In fact, I loved
Every minute of it
Nothing they did
Could make me quit

My first offense was
A coloring book
Porky Pig to be exact
It only took one look

I saw, I wanted, I took
Caesar like, I came
I saw, I conquered
I was not to blame

My problem was
I lacked a certain
Criminal intelligence
I threw caution the wind

And showed my Aunt
The coloring book
She knew just what to do
And with a determaned look

"This must be done
And back to the Five and Dime Store
With tme me firmly in tow
"Tell the manager what you're here for

I calmly told him of my crime
He took my coloirng book
"Will you ever do this again," He sternly aksed
"No", I said while tapping my foot

My next offence
At the Five and Dime
Was of couse, a box of crayons
It was a good find

And I want home
And showed my Aunt
Yes, back to the manager
For my sins to recant

I then began to
Expand my territory
My Aunt's best friend
And that's another story
 
You see, her friend
Has these tiny knickknacks
On her coffee table
I took 'em fast

And you guessed it
When we got home
I showed my Aunt
She immediately went to the phone

And told her friend
That we would be back
To see her again next week
This visit was, in fact

For me to return
Her precious knickknacks
She told me
"THESE MUST BE PUT BACK

"Why? Why?" I asked
They were so pretty
My Aunt shunned me all that week
She was trying to break me

Have you ever been shunned
In the true Quaker tradition
You become invisible to the family
It is cruel

This would not go unanswered
I found a pair of scissors
And begun to cut
The netting and the feathers

From her best hat
NO remorse
This was war
Strickly business, of course

This next thing I did
I regret to this day, I confess
I turned the scissors
On her only good dress

When she saw
She quitely asked
"Honey, baby
Did you do this
 
"Yes, I did it
There was nothing more to say
She took the dress
And quietly threw it away

For this, I waws
Never punished
She never mentioned it again
My crime spree was finished

A few soft words
And one very sad look
I knew I was done
My soul she shook

Not that I became
A model kid
There were the teen years
Though which we skid

And when I married
This first thing I did
Was to go you know where
Where I went when I was a kid

And bought some
Tiny knickknacks
To put on my coffee table
Ones that would not have to be put back

And when My children
Would misbehave
I never slapped or hollered
For I can truly say

Conscience is a powerful tool
I had learned my lesson well
A few soft words
And that look would dispel

Do my children
Know of my checkered past
Yes, I  told them
They don't believe, they just laugh