Always on time, is something I’m.
Always seemly, yes, extremely.
And polite? Oh, very, quite.

Don’t crack knuckles, won’t stamp feet.
My room, my handwriting, both are neat.

Never cry unless I’m hurt.
Never ask for more dessert.

Tie my shoes before I’m told.
Eat my food before it’s cold.
Respect old people ‘cause they’re old.

Ever lie? Oh, no – not I!

I wrote this poem in response to a prompt from the National Poetry Writing Month site: “write a ten-line poem in which each line is a lie.” Of course I cheated: there are eleven lines, not ten, and the lines aren’t lies at all, at all.

Image: Charlotte Augusta Matilda, c. 1776, by Nathaniel Hone (called “the Elder”) (1718-1784).