Homeschooling - by
I’m teaching my children what’s happening
right now, which is to say I’m dredging
an ocean of oil-black sludge into our home
school
Listen tae the Teacher - by
He’s five year auld, he’s aff tae school,
Fairmer’s bairn, wi a pencil an a rule,
His teacher scoffs when he says ‘hoose’,
‘The word is “house”, you silly little goose.’
He tells his Ma when he gets back
He saw a ‘mouse’ in an auld cairt track.
His father laughs fae the stack-yard dyke, ‘
Yon’s a “moose”, ye daft wee tyke.’
In Mrs Tilscher’s Class - by
You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswân.
Streams - by
When we went to the grammar school
/ the teacher said,
/ ‘You A-stream girls
/ will go out in the world
/ and be doctors and lawyers.
/ You…
The Old School - by
In the old country school
/ under the cool of the tree
/ I scribbled
/ on the dust’s pages
/
/ and the wind
/ my unfailing teacher
/ blew away my…
Teams - by
I would have skipped the stupid games,
/ long afternoons spent chilled in goal,
/ or sleepy, scratching, in deep field,
/ leapt…