Four(teen)­letter Words by Russell Bittner

Many are the words 1 know,
but there's one I'm loath to use;
warily, I've watched it grow
well beyond its terrible twos.

No, it's not the word I choose
if, in saying it, I blush
euphemistically for "lose"
what I urgently must flush.

Nor is it the one 1 slice
when my brother makes me sick;
we say 'Richard' when he's nice;
when he's not, he's one real 'Rick.’

'Irue again for my big sis'
when she's got an angry itch ­
hang­nail, zit or sloppy kiss,
she becomes a brazen witch.

If I've caught you by surprise,
wondering what it might be,
piqued as punch and yet not wise,
here's the lock to fit the key:

fourteen letters in a word
may seem frankly alien;
yet the word's not so absurd...
it's 'sesquipedalian!’


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