National Curriculum OR Connecting with Wannabe Heroes
When I
worked in public libraries as a librarian, it seemed that children and young
people were frequently given homework projects on the subject of war. To confront
them with the horrors of war has to be a good thing. However, when they were
telling me all about their respective projects, enthusiasm would nearly always
stem from getting a buzz from the idea of war rather than being appalled by its
consequences…
A parent
once complained to me that her son wept while repeating a teacher’s graphic
description of how a relative had suffered a lingering death from ‘undignified’
wounds sustained during WW2. “No child should hear such things!” she protested.
The ‘child’, though, was 16 years-old and (surely?) deserved to know that war
just ain’t like it is in the movies.
I well recall being caught out by a teacher engaging in whispers with a classmate. I was invited to share the subject of our discourse with the whole class. I confessed that we had agreed that the lesson was boring. i expected a severe reprimand at the very least. To my surprise, the teacher merely shrugged. Learning, Taber;' he said, is the key to life. You can take it and use it or leave it and lose it, up to you. Now, where were we ...?' The incident was more years ago than I care to remember, but I recall it as if it were yesterday, and glad I am that I do; of course, I didn't have a clue at the time what he meant and was simply relieved to be let off so lightly.
I well recall being caught out by a teacher engaging in whispers with a classmate. I was invited to share the subject of our discourse with the whole class. I confessed that we had agreed that the lesson was boring. i expected a severe reprimand at the very least. To my surprise, the teacher merely shrugged. Learning, Taber;' he said, is the key to life. You can take it and use it or leave it and lose it, up to you. Now, where were we ...?' The incident was more years ago than I care to remember, but I recall it as if it were yesterday, and glad I am that I do; of course, I didn't have a clue at the time what he meant and was simply relieved to be let off so lightly.
NATIONAL
CURRICULUM or CONNECTING WITH WANNABE HEROES
Today we
have History
and World
War Two
spills
across the classroom,
filling
every trench
with a
stench of homesickness
and
blood, desks dripping
pools of
mud, where elbows
nudge
each other,
half an
eye on the clock
as we get
stuck in
Under
fire, bayonets fixed,
human clocks ticking;
human clocks ticking;
somewhere, there's birdsong
and sunshine overtaking
rain clouds where Death’s face
pours acid tears
on an atomic bomb package
in texts selected
to temper any gung-ho
and sunshine overtaking
rain clouds where Death’s face
pours acid tears
on an atomic bomb package
in texts selected
to temper any gung-ho
perspective
Science, and time to discover
more about ticking clocks
Copyright
R. N. Taber 2001; 2015
[Note: An earlier version of this poem appears in Words
of Wisdom, Poetry Today (Forward Press) 2001 and First
Person Plural by R. N. Taber,
Assembly Books, 2002; alternative title added 2015.]
Labels: education, history, human nature, human spirit, idealism, illusion, learning curve, lies, poetry, politics, posthumous consciousness, remembrance, time., truth, war, young people
posted by R. N. Taber | 08:51
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