Cops and Robbers

I tried playing a game of cops and robbers

with my young grandchildren,

but each time I put them in jail

they always seemed to escape.

They were trained escape artists,

a part of their basic upbringing

like first learning how to crawl,

then moving on to walking and running,

developing this skill like it was part of their DNA.

Maybe if I had a plate of brownies,

a bowl of ice cream in the prison cell,

or had turned the television on

to one of their favorite shows,

they might have stayed a little longer,

but each time, they quickly broke loose,

out — causing havoc in the house again,

shouting and running wild,

and by then, 

Grandpa finally called it quits

slipping on his noise-cancelling headphones.