Before the claxon, still pitch black,
Despite the hour, duvet’s peeled back,
And limping through the bathroom door,
The silent mantra, “one day more.”
The sun is hiding while teeth brushed
And floss and rinse and toilet flushed,
And keeping silent in the shower,
Won’t wake my daughter at this hour.
Dressing smartly, eating cornflakes,
Cycling ‘fore anyone else wakes.
Get to work and through the gates.
What new stress today awaits?
Marching up austere grey stairs,
Into a lab, but no-one cares
That it will take at least two hours
To mark those books, lest student glowers
Through page on page of lazy scrawls,
I glimpse a world indifference rules.
It seems the only one who cares
Is me, I glimpse my greying hairs
Reflect against the window pane.
“Please sir, I did my best,” they feign
The bell rings, time to face the foes,
Of course this is the life I chose,
Or maybe I just had no choice
“I’m here sir”, comes each lonely voice,
I see, the young ones, just like I,
Trapped in this prison, held by the lie
The state enforces: “educate,
Improve your lot, improve your fate.”
But it’s a myth, they know, like me,
That nothing comes without a fee.
Again the bell, the day begins,
The rest a blur, too busy to think,
Too busy to eat, too busy to drink.
A working lunch, a working pee,
A working break, diminished me,
A few more hours, then journey home,
But first, the young, whose thoughts do roam.
Why don’t they care? Why don’t they learn?
It impacts not how much they’ll earn.
Their future is as bleak as mine,
A longer, downhill storyline.
But there, at home, my happiness,
My family waits, nevertheless.
When I get home, for a brief time,
My daughter cuddles, love sublime.
My wife will hold me, a moment’s pause,
Then sleep will stalk with sharpened claws.
Those early mornings take their toll,
My waking minutes work has stole,
And all too soon I’ll wake again,
And creep around with quiet refrain
To get to work, repeat, repeat,
With fleeting loving moments sweet.
Until the grave abruptly comes.
Life’s battle has no victory drums.
But, oh, those moments, bursts of love,
Make life a pleasure, I’ll rise above
The dark sad feelings of despair
When I teach the class that doesn’t care.
I wrote that poem years ago when I was in a particularly low mood one day. I’m not in a low mood now, but I thought I’d share it. Sometimes I write poems.
Reminder: Weekly Live Tuition Sessions!
SUNDAY 11th January
GCSE Physics 9:30am – 10:20am Infrared radiation A-Level Physics 10:30am – 11:20am Measurement of specific charge GCSE Astronomy 11:30am – 12:20pm Exploring the moon If you wish to enrol on the tuition sessions and haven’t yet, then click enrol below
Physics with Keith 