September Beckons-New School Poem

They force them into uniforms

As if education is a war

Line them up for roll call

like soldiers facing battle

 

Then blitz them into silence

take away their innocence

blast their sense of being

 

March them back and forth

shovel facts with no setting

compute their minds to code

repeat, again, exclude your own ideas

 

They Change the Name

Reduce the ranks of teachers

but someone’s always waiting

Punishment is well resourced

 

Who wishes these rules upon us

obsessed with only right answers

when knowledge invites questions

 

Let’s play, act out our lives

work through the tricky parts

draw and colour the pattern of our days

not close down opinions

but open up to invention

why are these things now stored

in tall dark cupboards

away from light and laughter

 

My kids, your kids, our kids

we don’t want them all the same

school is where we’re shaped

inspired, challenged and together

Not set up on a treadmill of results

 

One look, wrong word, missed moment

can poison the delicate art of curiosity

the confidence to shout or choose to stand still

 

Each day, a date, a story in every mind

Now and yesterday and tomorrow

To share, to question and to celebrate

 

As if the Government knows better

there are no local voices

Academies are a posh word

that guarantees confusion

supposed better learning

inherits many vices

the worst is making profit

Above all other reason

Roger Drury 10/7/17