Class Distinction Poem by Sheena Blackhall

Class Distinction
There is your desk.
There is the globe of the world
There is the blackboard, the chalk
The clock, the letters, the sums
There is your teacher,
Her hair pulled back in a bun
She will teach you the meaning of rules
What happens if you break them
Here, you're not daddy's Number One
Here comes a bully. Run!


Take out your milk and apple
Bow your head for grace
Now it is dinner, then playtime
The playground's a frightening place
You are a daughter of Eve
You are hobbled in life's race

And then you must stand in line
‘Don't move child!
A wasp crawls over your face

Here are the old school walls
No strap. No nervous twitch
Classrooms converted to flats
Where tenants are passing rich

Do they encounter the ghosts of children
Learning their lessons by rote?
The way to succeed in the future
Is to take life by the throat