1425

MIDDLE SCHOOL POEMS

I've taught middle school --
A couple days a week for a few hours.
What I learned was
Unless you're there every day
You spend the first half hour of every class
Reminding them who you are exactly.

Sixth graders start out like third graders --
Shining light and not even eager to please.
As the year goes on you can see them getting socialized.
They dismantle one set of skills -- the kind
You as a teacher may wish to preserve --
And start working on another, semi-adult, mind.

Adolescence now extends into the early thirties.
Middle school now extends into your early thirties.
The breathtaking excitement of unchildish rudeness
Is a huge part of the shadow curriculum. There are
Constant and endless standardized tests to assure
That this most necessary skill is acquired.

I get very wordy remembering middle school.
Even more than high school, junior high
Encouraged sesquipedalianism. Spelling bees
Do not generally continue past the eighth grade.
Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms; cliques; suburbs,
Neither urban nor whoops! that's all we have time for.