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The Word Challenge of the Day is shambles. Fandango’s FOWC is treasure. Today’s offering was inspired by Fandango’s post today, which can be found here.

 

Halls of Learning

where treasures

that are young minds

are shaped

are in shambles

Breaking the backs

of the teacher’s unions

Privatizing all other

school services

to the lowest bidder

Cramming curricula into

indoctrinating performance scripts

Centralizing control into

Overlordic Intermediate School Districts

Look at your property tax bills

and see how much is squeezed

from you to fill ISD coffers

Public schools bankrupted

with vouchers for private schools

Schools of choice leaves

only the poorest

segregated

behind

like the residue

in the bottom

of the septic tank.

*

Queen B DeVos is stripping away protections

for students with special needs

students who live in houses

where slumlords

won’t take lead chips

off of the walls

students whose governor allowed

lead-laden toxins to flow

through the taps and into

their forming brains

students who eat only

the garbage found at

convenience stores

because the real store

is too far away and

there’s no bus fare

students whose daddy

got tired of nobody

wanting to hire him

because his skin is brown

so he left and lives

down the street with

another baby momma

students whose mom

alternates between clinic drugs

and the bottle of rotgut that

she can afford at the

corner store

that feeds her kids

students who walk

through a war zone

every day to learn.

*

In March 2018, Cheeto told Betsy she would

chair a Federal School Safety Commission

in response to another school shooting

Conclusion? the discipline gloves are off

for students not white (and rich)

to address school shootings

done by white (male) students.

*

The following poem screams to be heard. Please. Listen.

Cause I Ain’t Got No Pencil

I woke myself up

Because we ain’t got an alarm clock

Dug in the dirty clothes basket,

Cause ain’t nobody washed my uniform

Brushed my hair and teeth in the dark,

Cause the lights ain’t on

Even got my baby sister ready,

Cause my mama wasn’t home.

Got us both to school on time,

To eat us a good breakfast.

Then when I got to class the teacher fussed

Cause I ain’t got no pencil

–By Joshua T. Dickerson

hollowed halls read aloud by moi