Geography Lesson Poem by Brian Patten

Geography Lesson

Rating: 4.3


Our teacher told us one day he would leave
And sail across a warm blue sea
To places he had only known from maps,
And all his life had longed to be.
The house he lived in was narrow and grey
But in his mind's eye he could see
Sweet-scented jasmine clinging to the walls,
And green leaves burning on an orange tree.
He spoke of the lands he longed to visit,
Where it was never drab or cold.
I couldn't understand why he never left,
And shook off the school's stranglehold.
Then halfway through his final term
He took ill and never returned,
And he never got to that place on the map
Where the green leaves of the orange trees burned.
The maps were redrawn on the classroom wall;
His name was forgotten, it faded away.
But a lesson he never knew he taught
Is with me to this day.
I travel to where the green leaves burn
To where the ocean's glass-clear and blue,
To all those places my teacher taught me to love
But which he never knew.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Brian Jani 13 July 2014

fantastic poetry here, you nailed this one as usual.

14 18 Reply
jefferson2 26 April 2018

Why did poet choose not to write this poem in full ballad form?

6 11 Reply
Jefferson 26 April 2018

Why did the poet choose not to write this poem in full ballad form?

3 13 Reply
Andrea rubia no 21 August 2018

When was the poem published

4 8 Reply
hi 24 June 2021

good poem

1 2 Reply
Eggs 05 May 2021

Eggs

0 4 Reply
eggs 14 May 2021

eggs

0 4
Reeeeeee 10 December 2020

Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

1 1 Reply
qqqqqqq 29 April 2020

qqqqqqqq efgrwergt ertgae

2 2 Reply
i think i came 29 April 2020

holy im so

3 1 Reply
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Brian Patten

Brian Patten

Liverpool / England
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