Close your Eyes and Read

A satire on modern education.

Welcome to school, now open your books

And close your eyes and read;

Read through the lines, and not between them,

For thus it has been decreed.

 

Worry about your future, not the present,

Because that’s where life’s instilled.

It won’t be YOUR life, but what does it matter

As long as our wish is fulfilled?

 

You mustn’t ask any questions,

They are just a waste of time;

Time that can be spent reading

Without a reason or rhyme.

 

Don’t you all feel honoured to be

Pawns in our great industry?

What? Would you rather think like kings

While we enslave your memory?

 

Don’t worry yourself by thinking;

We free you from the bonds of thought.

Just come and learn by rote,

And be all the things we’re not.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

oh god, i love this...i am a teacher at two community colleges...and i try to get my students to think outside the box..i hate straight lecture...it just feeds that which is passed down and down and down..it is saying to students, just memorize and accept, don't question.
and as Rock and Roll cowboy said...one of the worst things in literature is to tell students what anything means...literature is written art and thus is open to interpretation...we don't all want to be parrots, mimicks, apers? but sometimes education does that to students...no wonder they are disinterested.

really insightful write.

jacob

[Priya]

Thank you for the wonderful review :) It is even more brutal here in India, with the view of the teacher becoming the de facto view of every student, where students are almost bred to become exam clearing machines.

[Archia]

This was great. I loved how reflective this is on education. The rhyme was really nice, it gave it such a nice flow to it. "Pawns in our great industry?" I loved the idea behind that. This was a really nice poem.

[Shy Girl]

Back in school...argh!!! Sounds like you hit it just right.. :) Sometimes I don't understand why we had to be tortured just to drop us some knowledge...bad memories tend to give me the shivers... I enjoyed your poem very much though. I thought it an excellent piece... :)

[Aella.lives]

I loved 'close your eyes and read' that spoke to me and I loved it. You really did a good job with -haha- opening the eyes to what it's like in the educational system. 'Don’t you all feel honoured to be
Pawns in our great industry?' Great stanza. Lovely write.

[AK]

Wow! Priya, you explained the Indian system of education so very well each minute I was thinking about my teachers saying the same thing, I loved your line 'close your eyes and read' which to me translates into 'close your mind, just read and learn it by heart'. Amazing! The rhyming scheme compliments the poem very well. Loved it!