Close your Eyes and Read

A satire on modern education.

Welcome to school, now open your books

And close your eyes and read;

Read through the lines, and not between them,

For thus it has been decreed.

 

Worry about your future, not the present,

Because that’s where life’s instilled.

It won’t be YOUR life, but what does it matter

As long as our wish is fulfilled?

 

You mustn’t ask any questions,

They are just a waste of time;

Time that can be spent reading

Without a reason or rhyme.

 

Don’t you all feel honoured to be

Pawns in our great industry?

What? Would you rather think like kings

While we enslave your memory?

 

Don’t worry yourself by thinking;

We free you from the bonds of thought.

Just come and learn by rote,

And be all the things we’re not.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

oh god, i love this...i am a teacher at two community colleges...and i try to get my students to think outside the box..i hate straight lecture...it just feeds that which is passed down and down and down..it is saying to students, just memorize and accept, don't question.
and as Rock and Roll cowboy said...one of the worst things in literature is to tell students what anything means...literature is written art and thus is open to interpretation...we don't all want to be parrots, mimicks, apers? but sometimes education does that to students...no wonder they are disinterested.

really insightful write.

jacob

[Priya]

Thank you for the wonderful review :) It is even more brutal here in India, with the view of the teacher becoming the de facto view of every student, where students are almost bred to become exam clearing machines.

[MOON]

Lovely there are far too few creative thinkers in this world. Keep the masses comfortable or poor but never clever.

[Elaenor Aisling]

Totally agree with this! Education is declining rapidly these day, though it is not because of teachers necessarily, but administration and the state that dictate that only test scores matter. Who cares about abstract thought, or individuality. To ensure no child is left behind we must heard them all into a group and stuff knowledge down their throats. Good write.

[Divinity Sleeps in This]

I like to ponder the future and freedom, this is awesome!

Also our eduction system is highly dysfunctional which you mention here, agreed.

[Leigh]

Interesting perspective about being inside 'the box' , brain washing, mind control and hypnosis.

[Holly Soques]

This is great! The last lines of the two stanzas, though, I don't quite understand. What do you mean by 'enslaving memory'? Also, I kind of extrapolated the meaning of this poem to include all forms of 'conditioning', especially in this age of conformity. It's not only the education system that continuously churns out clones, but the entire problem of people being 'institutionalized' (hehe, that reminds of Red from Shawshank's Redemption) is a product of this globalized, modernized world obsessed with efficiency at the cost of actual thought.

[Suditi]

Wow.
True story.
This is such a profound poem.
The sarcasm, the cynicism, so well expressed.
Its like, you keep reading, and thinking... "Exactly!! Been there. Done that."
This is one of the best pieces I've ever read. Wow.

[reflectingus]

I totally agree with you and Akanksha! This leaves this feeling of cynicism in me, when I think about the Indian education system, where minds get narrow-er and we struggle when we go abroad because there are places where thinking is actually open-minded. You made me RESPECT sarcasm now, as I felt my head vigorously nod in approval, and I believe more people need to see this, feel that retardness we feel when we go to school, and realize that we just lack freedom. It is so important to understand what you learn, because eventually, if it goes on this way, getting good grades would end up being all that matters, and when we get out of school, this stuff is to be forgotten anyway. I seriously applaud your effort, your mindset and how people need to realize that it's time to open our minds, not just the books. Perfect level of adrenaline, and I can just go on about how much I admire this write.

[ba_mcfarlane]

I can't critique this; I wouldn't change a word. Wonderful, thanks for sharing.

[R.G. Bennet]

I like how this poem addresses something that is not only true in reality, but continues to be an issue.

"Don’t worry yourself by thinking;
We free you from the bonds of thought." ----those were my favourite lines.

One question though...that last line - "and be all the things we're not"...wouldn't the students become just like them if they continue to learn by rote? "all the things we're not" seems to suggest change, a turning away from the system. But that's just my interpretation. Perhaps you meant something different.

All the same, I love this poem. Thanks for sharing :)

[Rasputin]

This poem embodies most- if not all- of the reasons I dropped out of school. I love your cynical insight.