Four ... teen

She screams and
Flails
She always flails but
She doesn’t always
Clench her teeth and
Yell
About how she would rather live
Somewhere else
With someone else
That’s reserved for when I take away
A stuffed animal or doll but
Not just any
Stuffed animal or doll
The foreshadowing of teen angst is
Reserved only for
The inner circle
Pink Baa-Baa
Rosie
Sarah and
Juice
Juice is
The poodle that she insists is a cat
Whose journey
Through the air and
Down the stairs
Caused the anguished comments today and
Who
Through a promised return
Helped to broker a peace settlement
Juice’s other role is to remind me that
Even while she is
Screaming
Telling me how bad I am and
Angrily scribbling on her craft table
She is almost five
Not fifteen
The flailing is another clue