Why The Fuck

Why profanity
Speak and write without it
No need for those words —
You know the ones

Which if you use
You must wash — rinse —
Cleanse your mouth

Completely — utterly — ignore
Those physical parts
And the things they do

And if you must refer —
There are proper words
Euphemisms that elevate

Say private parts
Making love
Passing urine or a stool, if you must

Or better yet —
Say nothing at all
Remain silent

Gesture delicately, raise the little finger
Point with index — never the middle finger
Use numbers: one, two
Even three
They’ll understand
They know the code

It’s not civilised — not proper
Don’t be lazy, childish, adolescent
Cheap, crude, common

You are an adult now —
Mature, sensible, responsible
Educated, literate

Purify
The words
To lift yourself higher
Farther from the gutter

Set an example
Let others follow your lead — upwards

Don’t be petulant, argumentative
Reactive, dismissive, hostile
Never wallow
In self-pity, self-indulgence, self-flagellation

Stop being needy
Never throw a tantrum
Don’t you see —
It all passes

Don’t contradict yourself
Be thoughtful, be consistent
To prove you’ve arrived

Wise people
Refined, evolved, spiritually advanced people —
They are contained
Controlled, measured

Integrated, kind, compassionate
Caring, loving, courteous
And always —
They use proper words

Not like those others —
Vulgar crowd, uncouth
Grunting, cursing
Spitting filth

Their chakras — blocked
Their minds — clouded

Your faeces, bile, secretions, discharge —
All the waste products
Ingrown toe nails, corns, boils
Pustules, mucus, phlegm
Menstrual flow, seminal fluid
Vomit, diarrhoea, pus

All these biological activities —
There are names for everything
Learn them
That’s why we have a dictionary

Say constipated, if you must
And if it does not pass —
Take laxatives
An enema

If there’s an irritation —
Take antihistamine, go for a walk
Talk to a counsellor, meditate

Find something — somewhere
Anything but those words
That drag you down
Into the darkness

Among the wretched, base
Common, street people

You are special — holy — risen —
Above and beyond the masses

Be careful
You might fall —
All the way down —
Into the gutter
With the foul-mouthed

If the wrong words
Slip —
From your impeccable mouth
Your divine fingers

Why profanity
Why the fuck