Primary School


I once heard it said by a man called sage
knowledge sits on cushions of ignorance
Even the bit needed to earn a wage
Herewith bide the time of deliverance

I still remember the first day of school
But I do not recall wearing a hat
I do wish I had felt more like a fool
Made to sit right at the back just like that

But no I was no fool, I had good brains
Or so I was well convinced by being told
I submitted my heart and took the chains 
Of what Man believes for the nerves to hold

And what he believes are many folded
He believes he is the best of all souls
Because he won't see what are not moulded
In his own image playing other roles

To class we went to fix inborn defects
Emphasising memories for numbers
Multiplying henceforth all their effects
On things heard silently between slumbers

Does the brain give us our sense of freedom
Or just the codex of selected thoughts?
What does the neuron make of a phantom
Or the real construct of unending noughts?

I still remember the first day of school
The whirl of soprano cheers and the throng
The symmetry of sitting on a stool
And the holy grace made me sing a song

As East Sea water and White Ridge Mountain
May dry and wear God will protect and deem
Long live our land and Hurray my Captain
We were refugees living in a dream

Lucignano 31 5 2007