Teachers
8 09 2006Mrs Howison from the Highlands;
her heaven chimed with Devon,
mine with midden.
Mrs McCanna, no stranger to a fish supper,
skin clammy with salt’n’vinegar,
declared me out-of-order.
Mr Beckham replaced his stroboscope
with a boy, propped on a box,
set to shout ‘flash’ every five seconds.
Mrs Cash balanced breasts and maths
on my shoulder until I keeled over
on first contact with her mouthwash.
These were my teachers
and I have spent my life unlearning
every lesson they taught me.
Today, in a grocery store, a stone’s throw
from Turin’s multi-ethnic
centre,
a child barged into me at the fish-counter.
Scusa, I said, with enough sarcasm
to poison an ocean.
He didn’t even look at me.
Foreigner of shit! he replied
in BBC vowels, and I wondered
who had taught him that one.
by Rob A. Mackenzie of Surroundings
Heh. I loved this. Got me thinking about my own early schoolteachers… I like the balance here between the first half - almost a nursery rhyme of Dr. Seuss characters - and the second half, now a grownup’s view of the unruly child.
Yes, this has humour and draws forth one’s own recollections of teachers past - well done!
LM and marja-leena
Thanks for commenting. Much appreciated.