Education New Normal Style 2020 Poem by Denis Martindale

The children leave their homes once more, the new term to embrace,
With brand new lessons to explore, each other now to face,
And who knows if they show more care, or wash their hands at all,
Or if a cough will cause a scare as they walk down the hall?

If all goes well, their lives are safe, and teachers praise the Lord,
If not, then who knows who stays brave, should health risks be ignored?
No wife or children, yes, I know, I'm free from such concerns,
But parents watch their children go and hope that each one learns.

Yet what is education worth, if risks are all around,
When everywhere, upon this Earth, such risks have still been found?
When rumours spread for such disease, statistics prove these true,
And they're not likely to bring peace when seeking what to do.

Will children sing the hymns we sang in schools so long ago,
When faith in little hearts once sprang, when hopes began to grow,
When teachers had respect and more, when lessons taught a lot,
Or will high standards prove a chore, as blessings they forgot?

No wonder that the mothers pray, with questions on their minds,
Not knowing what will come each day, or what tomorrow finds,
But this I know, of all things known, be vigilant and wise,
Else each prolongs this Twilight Zone, surprise, surprise, surprise.


Denis Martindale. September 2020.