The Convent School
Posted: 12 May 2018, 23:40
Riding pillion on a bicycle
my shoes tumbled
down the over-bridge
landed on the railway track
many feet below.
Uncle fetched my shoes
as i knew he would,
my school girl trick
that found him returning
with my saddle oxford,
exhausted.I heard uncle panting.
The prank repeated,
I always arrived
late for the Assembly.
Adeleide knocked my knuckles
with a sideways slanting ruler.
My friends knew how to withdraw
their palms before the slash
but I stood like a tree
motionless awaiting the pain.
The land just sloped down
three men’s height.
No parapet walls to mark
playgrounds. One playground
fell into the other, stones and mud
and patched-up concrete.
The reason why I abhorred school
was my poor eye sight;
The noise of bully boys alone
helped me to measure distances,
sometimes the prayer ground
announced a long fortnight’s holiday.
my shoes tumbled
down the over-bridge
landed on the railway track
many feet below.
Uncle fetched my shoes
as i knew he would,
my school girl trick
that found him returning
with my saddle oxford,
exhausted.I heard uncle panting.
The prank repeated,
I always arrived
late for the Assembly.
Adeleide knocked my knuckles
with a sideways slanting ruler.
My friends knew how to withdraw
their palms before the slash
but I stood like a tree
motionless awaiting the pain.
The land just sloped down
three men’s height.
No parapet walls to mark
playgrounds. One playground
fell into the other, stones and mud
and patched-up concrete.
The reason why I abhorred school
was my poor eye sight;
The noise of bully boys alone
helped me to measure distances,
sometimes the prayer ground
announced a long fortnight’s holiday.