Whatever, Longfellow.

A response sixty years in the making.

There was a little girl,

   Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

            When she was good,

            She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was horrid.

…Goes the Longfellow verse my parents would recite to me, little girl with a curl, when I acted up.

So that very same girl

Her brain starting to whirl

Wonders what is this lesson she’s learning.

Is good simply quiet?

If so, she won’t buy it,

And sets “seen but not heard” to burning.