One Christmas I told my dad
that my sister had scribbled on the pages of my new Cub Scout diary.
When he confronted her about the damage
and she pleaded innocent I asked who did it if she never
and realizing that there was no other likely suspect,
assuming our parents to be above such a senseless violation,
Angela said that although she had no
recollection of the incident
the culprit must have been her;
an admission which my father felt
warranted a thorough beating.
What had actually occurred was
whilst entering my address in the diary,
which I wanted to look neat as possible,
I had made a mistake,
crossed it out, made a mess
and lost my temper,
ruining the book
with a series of indelible markings.
When the frenzy was over
I decided that somebody should suffer for this act of destruction
and that that person should be my sister.