Harry Biosah Poet Prose Poetry

What Western Education Didn'T Teach Us

Western education,
Taught us everything.....
Everything, that is......

It taught us about
Early man, slavery and slave trade 
It taught us to,
Turn to the right cheek
When smacked on the left cheek


It taught us that
The white man discovered Africa,
The earth revolves
Around the sun;
That a white lie
Is subtle and harmless
While,
A black lie
Is insidious and dangerous 

But, it did not teach us that:
A cool pound is far better than 
A blazing, hot Rand
It did not teach us that:
Only your brother can intimate you
That you are suffering from halitosis;
That whoever is poised for a brawl
Must be ready for a bumpy head

Western education taught us everything.......everything 
About Space, Beowulf and going to the moon......





But,
It did not teach or tell us why
The banana is crooked;
It did not teach us
That,
What an old man
Sees while sitting,
A young man 
Cannot see it
While standing
That,
The sun will first
Smile on those standing,
Before those kneeling

They did not 
Teach us that
A child who swears 
That,
His mother will not sleep
Must also be ready
For a very, long, dreary night

They did not
Teach us that,
A child on it's mothers back
Does not remember 
How long, dreary and weary
The journey is
That,
A child's palm
Is not scaled
By a hot piece of yam
Placed in it
By the mother

They did not teach us
That,
A blind man cannot see
With someone else's eyes
That,
Foxes have holes
While,
Birds have nests 

It did not teach 
Us that,
A deaf man
Does not need
A megaphone 
To tell him that
War is at his door post

Western education
Taught us everything....
But,
It did not teach us,
What makes a tortoise 
Recoil into its shell
Even when,
The lion has not roared 

Western education taught us
Everything.....everything....
But,
It failed to teach us
How to count our teeth
With our tongue.

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