Abstract

Sitting in the late English class

Painted nails of a highlighter pink

Yawning with last night’s tired

The poetry book closed tight

 

Simple minds simple pleasures

In maths the calculator spells words

And the graphics sheets becomes

Living breathing paper birds

 

Geography lives in a video world

Sleep overcome, darkened room

Pens fly as if by the class magic

Innocent expressions are practiced

 

Swinging to and fro

Captivating boredoms gaze

Lit by fire, not proved safe

Monotone, radio speeches, prizes

Falling, screaming, burning, physics

 

Spilled chemistries water droplets on

Puddles of dreams, broke failed exams

Grows a snowball in the middle of summer

The one the kids will learn to hate

 

Patents boots illegal hit ice

Gloved hands, forgotten tunes

Ponytail swing, windmills flying

Coats in black rainbow dully

 

Ill fitted trainers, high pitched song

Ravens shriek and honey children

Heads fly, walls smash, swollen fingers

Fury lights up, squash is suddenly fun

 

Coffee or chocolate of common grace

Numbers floating in distant space

Drying pens, wasted useless doodles

Pretty pictures of political nightmares

Fluffy, shiny, pink historical world

 

One-eyed death limps through books

And giant dice haunt ancient Greece

A society which makes ours sick

Is more advanced than we can be

 

Torn to shreds over bad jokes

Missing and silent, Spanish tears

A whole history, a past rewritten

Headaches and climbing fears

 

Penguins and cracked paint pots hats and it

With cowboys smiling over rainbow mice

Computers flying through pale blue air

Flying metal, shattered dreams, cracked screens

 

Handstands and cartwheels, cold stone walls

Bookcases where books and news are absent

Ceilings grumbled under tea drinking breaks

Smiles hidden by wind shaken, breathing curtains

 

This is school, glory, pride forget-me-nots

Money can buy this but do you want it

Education worth having for a world split

This is the best years of your life, this is it.