Be Good Or Else

After childhood’s rules,
the times that we are told
“Be Good, Or Else,”
the warning made gently then.

The times that we are told
– again and again –
the warning made gently then,
so deafening a hiss.

Again and again,
beyond our fears,
so deafening a hiss
we’ll never hear again.

Beyond our fears,
after childhood’s rules,
we’ll never hear, again:
“Be Good, Or Else.”