One Lesson Change Too Many

One Lesson Change Too Many

A funnelled pandemonium charges
Through the narrow, fettered corridors.
The restless souls seek a moment's refuge
From the barking pedagogic hoard.

Pent-up rage finds fission there
And weak ones are quickly swept aside.
For this is no time for freedom,
Only a moment for 'slopping out'
And the sentence starts anew.

As the tide of youth passes,
A drone-like sentinel cries 'caps off'
For the umpteenth time
And coats are discarded
Until the guard is out of sight.

We shouldn't be surprised
At the vibrant, headlong dash of youth.
Five long ages of pained inertia
Only swells a passionate need to rebel.

As the surge subsides
And straggling lambs are gathered in,
Another shattered silence settles once again.

Graham Fewell