Red pens and gold-coloured stickers
Collected and written on a sheet
Worth is measured in carefully constructed
Tests
Papers
Art
Until our life is red-string tied
To numbers and letters
Until we are released
In identically shaped boxes
Stamped with “Good Job” and
“University bound”
Or
“Try harder” and
“Does not conform”
Children are checking out
Ulcer-ridden by 8
Medicated by 10
A screaming silence
Stuck in lock-step until
Creativity
Joy
Curiosity
Vanishes into our child-shaped molds
Filled with red pens and gold-coloured stickers
Collected and written on a sheet
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