Let loose in a Blockbuster video store
Drawn like a moth to the light of Rated R
Then immediately rejected
With those nasty words “When you’re older.”
Knew it must be pretty great
To do whatever you wanted to do
And watch whatever you wanted to watch
Free from the fast-forward button.
But fast forward 20 years
In a condo of condiment-heavy dinners
Juxtaposed with Cheerios
Bookending daily I-don’t-knows,
And, well, the Blockbuster wish
Hasn’t exactly aged well
Or at least is now a hard sell
Alongside heaven and hell.
Mom and Dad’s tone
Undergoes a retrospective reassessment
Upon recalling the closeted warning
Hidden in “When you’re older.”
