Pursed lips, pursed moments,

With increased frequency, my mini-way of pausing and coping,

Over and over it happens with my kids, they have some remark I have no reply for, no doubt my own patience wearing thin,

Thinly veiled virtue quite fragile, too fragile sometimes,

So pursed lips my reply, like biting my tongue without the pain,

And when I make mistakes, lapse of judgment, silly errors otherwise, pursed lips too oft my response,

Painful I can’t do better, painful I can’t think faster to reply with golden words to meet the moment,

Only meeting my own shortcomings again, can’t figure in real time just what to say to deliver the lesson in real time,

So pursed moment results, and poised to consider the next time I’m caught flat-footed by a child’s remark,

Would that I could do better, would that I could do better,

Next time.