Simply a Word

There is a word all of us have heard many times

In our lives, an off-color often exclamatory word

Which may disgust or repulse those who feel they

Are duty-bound to uphold the decency and sen-

Sibility of our race, who espouse and promote the

Ethical edicate of proper society. Father may have

Employed this word to help alleviate the pain he

Suffered when the hammer hit his thumb, or the

Bus driver exclaimed when the engine sputtered

And came to a stop in the middle of his route. Pre-

Tentiously, some women blush, but nonetheless

Whisper it devilishly in disgust under their breath.

Teenagers find it a fundamental choice in their

Ever-expanding vocabulary of words. At that age

A friend of mine and I used it experimentally on a

Three-year old to see if he would repeat it. And to

Our amusement he did, over and over again. We

Fled the scene before that child could spout off

To his mother the vulgarism he had just learned.

Shout it proudly out loud, denounce it as filthy

and obscene, I propose that it shall forever in the

annuls of speech remain unclean—SHIT!--a pro-

Found (not all that profane) word which so appro-

Priately describes the stinking, rotten mess we

Often find ourselves wallowing in.

Chris Hanch 2-12-17