Dorothy Just Wanted To Learn Poem by Daleen Enslinstrydom

She wasn’t stupid,
just a little bit behind
as they did move a lot.

She had asked for a Croxley school book
to practice the maths
that she battled with

but her mother only had money
for cigarettes and a occasional bread
but she was determined to make a plan.

At the next school the lie slipped out
that her school books had been handed in
at the previous school
as she did need paper desperately.

The inside of the Surf box was too
dull to write on with her pencil
and difficult to read.

At home she tore out the blank paper
from the government issued school books,
folded them in half and used a knitting needle
to make holes for a piece of wool
from mother’s knitting bag
to hold her new book together.

She held her homemade book to her heart
and it was her secret and precious to her
as mother would be furious
and would tell the teacher
and now she had an opportunity
to practise the maths
that she battled with.