Jumping Jacks

When I was a kid

we always started with Jumping Jacks

on Guy Fawkes night.

We would light the fuses and run.

They had short attention spans.

We didn’t know where

they’d end up.

They had so much energy.

My kids were like that too.

They took after me.

You have ants in your pants, mum used to say

It’s the

Jumping jack gene.

I’d answer.

My niece, also afflicted,

takes medication and has only just read

her first novel at fifteen.

‘Adam Bede’

[ does anyone still read this?]

The dogs have it too.

Even in their sleep they are running.

Perhaps there is an evolutionary advantage

to being jittery

Is It Any Wonder ?

Have you got ants in yr pants? Mum would say

When I fidgeted in bed.

Once the dentist slapped me in the face

When I wouldn’t keep still

During an extraction.

My mind would wander like Wordsworth

When I was a kid.

You’d forget yr head if it wasn’t screwed on

Was a comment

That followed me like a shadow.

You’ve always got yr head in the clouds,

Barked Brother Angus

From his pulpit

During Ancient History lessons.

Well, it’s better than having it stuck up my arse,

I wanted to say.

And now my grand-daughter has been diagnosed with ADHD.

Is it any wonder?.

The Forest

I like them too.

I thought I was a basket case

But there’s this thirteen year old

I read about

Who takes anti-depressants

Anti-psychotic drugs,

Two drugs for attention deficit disorder

& she takes what I take too.

Christ,

I know growing up is tough

But I didn’t know it could be

Tough as this.

I could take other drugs,

Ones that she takes

But the doc reckons I’ve got this far

Without them

I can go the rest of the way.

I just hope that little thirteen year old kid

Makes it out of the forest okay.

*photo courtesy of Ulle