It’s easy to get “serious”.
They teach you that in nursery
With rulered hands and fingered lips;
In jobs, with carrot-coloured sticks;
Online, where everything offends;
On TV, where they all defend
The shaming of the “too relaxed”.

Pretending to be stressed and taxed –
Though everyday we do the drill –
Is not a differentiating skill.
It does not catch the pretty eyes,
Nor give someone the butterflies.
It does not earn revered trust,
Nor give your loved ones needed thrust.
It does not help them understand.
Instead, it shows that you demand
Their latitude, while you have none.
That you’re the more important one.