Barely awake doing your times-tables,
tables and chairs and pencil cases,
cases of books – blank white pages.
Smell of the boys toilets – hiding in the girls,
high headed ponytails and piglet like curls.
Wipe your nose on your sleeve and play
hopscotch. Fling skipping ropes high into trees,
run and fall and graze your knees.
Grandma’s packed your lunch – scotch eggs
and stew, chew on lead instead, then draw
a fire engine – big and red.
Go home through the lanes so you’re not seen,
demand chips and beans and cry until your head hurts,
then reflect on what you've learnt.
In bed, lie awake, and dream of your times-tables.
