Poems (Curwen)/Open Confession

by Annie Isabel Curwen

Open Confession.

(recitation for a little boy.)

My proper name is William,
 But some boys call me Will,
I'm never out of mischief,
 Because I can't keep still;
I'm always swinging on the doors,
 Or climbing on the chairs,
Else fright'ning mamma into fits
 With sliding down the stairs.
I can't help wriggling about,
 When I'm at church or school;
I can't sit still like other boys,
 Upon a chair or stool.
I try to keep from mischief, but
 I can't keep out a minute;
I cut up Mary's doll one day,
 To see what there was in it.
And once, when I was very young,
 When petticoats I wore,
I put the pepper in the jam,
 And mustard in the flour.
Ma says I'll surely drive her mad,
 With all the tricks I play,
She says her heart is in her mouth,
 A dozen times a day.
I'm sorry, for I love mamma,
 So I'll do the best I can,
To try and keep from mischief,
 When I grow up a man.