“Please may I have a piece of paper?…”
It just rolls off my tongue…so smoothly…
Just as I was taught to say it…all those years ago.
My memory goes back…and I am four years old.
“Please may I have a piece of paper?”
There!…dead easy…no problem.
The first words I remember stringing together…
“Please may I have a piece of paper?”
Not “can I have some paper please?”
But quite distinctly and deliberately…
“Please may I have a piece of paper?…”
Quite definitely…unerringly…well rehearsed.

I could say certain words at an earlier age.
I remember I could say “mummy”…
Who never cared for me in a ‘mummy’ way.
And I remember saying “wasp”…that ‘bit’ me.
And “toy”…which was taken away from me…
But nothing so sophisticated and integrated as…
“Please may I have a piece of paper?”
Ah! So proud. My first real effort at English Grammar.
“Please may I have a piece of paper?”
I must mention, that I was told to sit still when I was asking for it …
To stay where I was…until someone brought the said paper.
Not to move…not a muscle…not an inch.

So! There I am…four years old…my first known sentence…
“Please may I have a piece of paper?”
I repeat it again…
And again…
And again…
And again.
Now! If I say it loud enough…and for long enough…
Then perhaps…maybe…just maybe…
Eventually…
Someone will bring the requested toilet paper…
Then at last…I can get my four years old sorry arse off this shit pan…
Now! “Please may I have a piece of paper?…”