‘We Don’t Need No…’
They’ve boarded up the windows:
They’ve shut the source of life,
They’ve locked the door that leads to light,
And thrown away the key.
The young people who I ‘teach’
Who teach me more than they know
Look at me with terror-filled eyes
And want me to explain.
Why light is forbidden to them,
But darkness never is,
Why laughter is a source of sin,
But frowns are always in.
How people who have ‘learnt’ a lot,
Don’t know what ‘learning’ means,
Why love of laughter, and light itself,
Must always be proscribed.
Why thoughts and dreams are frowned upon,
But mediocrity encouraged,
Why questioning a teacher,
Makes her feel she’s failed.
Why lit-up hearts are a threat,
But inanity never is,
How teaching a lion to baa like a sheep,
Results in better score-sheets.
I tell them I have no answer
That I have lit a lamp,
And if they wanted to, they could
Light their own from it.
Was that too little, too late?
Because they have
Boarded up the windows:
They’ve shut the source of life,
They’ve locked the door that leads to light,
And thrown away the key.
©️ 2021 Suma Narayan. All Rights Reserved.
Prompted, in part, by this no-nonsense piece of brutal frankness, by another teacher, GB Rogut:
