The Nose-Grabber Never Hurts

The toddler begins to speak
And the papa begins to entertain
The stroller yields thrills with kinetic energy
And tilt in a 50-yard mad dash
Dubbed the “Wheelie Whee”

And then there are Gheeps and Teekos
And Raspberries on Thee Tummy
All yielding gales of giggles

But there is a modest lesson in compassion
With the Nose-Grabber
Which is a clamp of sorts
Made from the victory fingers of the left hand
Applied to the nubnose of the toddler
For three or four seconds
With feather touch gentleness
And the papa somberly telling his child
“Remember: The Nose-Grabber Never Hurts.”

Alas, I the Nose-Grabber
DID hurt my child
Not with kinetic energy but with words
Not with name-calling
But with what she called “Yell Lectures”
And not with indifference
But insensitivity…

We are estranged now
For over three years.

Every day hurts
The Nose-Grabber.
He wishes his child well
From afar.