I Don't Look Like I Was a Bad Boy – Short Poem

I Don't Look Like I Was a Bad Boy

“Go into the parlor, naughty boy.
Sit there, and think of what you've done.'
What was it ? Nothing very bad,
Only his mischief and his fun;
A spool unraveled, just to see
How long it would keep coming off;
A pepper-box all sifted out,
That made the kitty sneeze and cough;

The baby's doll in a slipper fine
With grandma's letter for a sail,
Tied to a slender stick for mast,
His boat afloat in the water pail;
Not tall enough to watch his play,
He stood upon my newest book
'Twas this I found, when his clear laugh
Caused me to stop my work and look.

The parlor door stood just ajar;
The silence grew too much for me;
I turned about to catch a glimpse
Of what his penitence might be;
And, seated in his tiny chair,
Gone from his pretty face its joy,
He murmured to the mirror's truth,
" I don't look like I was a bad boy."

O precious boy ! to think those words
Could cause thy tender heart to grieve;
Not even angels, when they heard
The hasty utterance, could believe.
Forever be thy faults as small,
And but the fruit of thoughtless joy;
Let me kiss back thy smiles again,
Mother's own precious, dear, good boy !