Short Grammar School Poems

In grammar school the boys had fun
Even though not one had a gun
They'd stalk a girl
Trying to shoot squirrel
But not one ever even saw one...

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Grammar school speculators
charlatan math
trading the currency
of borrowed youth
optioning the investment
in forsaken dreams
hedging their futures
with diminished returns
margining interest
—that will never compound

(Radnor School Board: February, 2021)...

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Emma was the name of my best friend
Once long ago in grammar school.
We learned, played and ate together.
Even our lunches we would pool.

When school reopened in the fall,
I looked for her.  She wasn't there.
I knew nothing of schools rezoned
Or of adults who didn't care.

Nor how a beloved friendship could
Be sacrificed for common good....

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As for Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride,
ignore what they taught you in grammar school. 
No such ride ever took place. They lied.
The truth is the famous patriot was no fool. 

Rather, and like any other red-blooded colonist,
he spent the night with his wife in passionate bliss
and was far keener on sewing his oats 
than riding to warn others of British Redcoats....

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speak up my dear
the class can't hear you 
when you mumble
e-n-u-n-c-i-a-t-e
stand up straight
pull that hair back 
from your face
no wonder no one wants 
to play with you
at recess all you ever do
is sit outside the classroom door
nose in a book
"look, look! it's bug-eyes"
she hears somebody say
"she's such a booger-nosed,
knobby-kneed, goober-dweeb"
she waits . . .
until their voices fade
to wipe her tears 
away...

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The tiny marks they mean so much
their presence makes for clarity.
They give a script a final touch
and make for better poetry.
But there are those who think it cool
Eliminate these marks and signs
we all have learned since grammar school.
They want us read between their lines
of jumbled, muddled heresy.
But we suspect their variance
when writing so-called poesy
is nothing more than ignorance
of what they should have learned ago
and blithely call it status quo....

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My Dad

My dad, he tried acting
My mum said he was a fool
My dad liked laughing
My mum said he was embarrassing
My mum taught me to hate him
My sisters backed her up
My brain was washed by them
My dad didn’t have a chance

My dad stayed with his family
My dad went to work everyday
My dad paid for grammar school
My dad never got any thanks
My dad fought the Japanese
My dad never hurt anyone
But my mum my sisters, 
brought him to his knees.

David Cox 15/05/20...

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