Exam instructions

"Begin writing overleaf"
Over sea under stone
Forget suddenly what I'm meant to be talking about
This examiner marks unkindly
I can't seem to dredge old learning from inside
Unlock a box that, yes, is full of leaves
So I begin to write overleaf
And do find, suddenly
That I'm back where I started
Under, perhaps, the leaf where everything began
or before (It's hard to tell)
Anger, frustration, flares in me for a moment
Pressing my pencil down so hard
that the tip breaks
And there is a murky hole on my page
that wasn't there before
Before I began writing overleaf
Or did I begin before?
And never end; until I'm down to the last green
And I drown in foliage.