Before anyone leaps in here and applies 21st century knee-jerk American moral values to this, I remember this poem from when I was a kid. Its at least 30 years old and written as satire. Look up “absurdity” and surreal humour too – the fact that the images in the poem are so vivid and extreme – into the realm of the absurd – make it funny; in employing such extremes the poet stepped over and walked a good distance beyond a line delineating real and believable from the clearly fictional and absurd. The poem lives on today whenever I hear someone or see a sign saying “first come, first served” or anyone makes a comment about awkward silences. Anyhow, on to the poem!
| The Lesson by Roger McGough Chaos ruled OK in the classroom “The theme for today is violence He picked on a boy who was shouting Then sword in hand he hacked his way He threw the sword at a latecomer The first blast cleared the backrow “Please may I leave the room sir?” The Head popped a head round the doorway And when the ammo was well spent The teacher surveyed the carnage |
I remember our head reading this during assembly one day, when I was in primary school. I thought it was hilarious at the time, and still find it funny. I’m sure most of my teacher friends would agree that there have been days when this would have been a proportionate response!
Ah… sweet memories.
You’re away on a retreat and you’re blogging at 5am? And POETRY?!