In Mrs Tilscher's Class Poem by Carol Ann Duffy

In Mrs Tilscher's Class

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In Mrs Tilscher's class
You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
"Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswan."
That for an hour,
then a skittle of milk
and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust.
A window opened with a long pole.
The laugh of a bell swung by a running child.

This was better than home. Enthralling books.
The classroom glowed like a sweetshop.
Sugar paper. Coloured shapes. Brady and Hindley
faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake.
Mrs Tilscher loved you. Some mornings, you found
she'd left a gold star by your name.
The scent of a pencil slowly, carefully, shaved.
A xylophone's nonsense heard from another form.

Over the Easter term the inky tadpoles changed
from commas into exclamation marks. Three frogs
hopped in the playground, freed by a dunce
followed by a line of kids, jumping and croaking
away from the lunch queue. A rough boy
told you how you were born. You kicked him, but stared
at your parents, appalled, when you got back
home

That feverish July, the air tasted of electricity.
A tangible alarm made you always untidy, hot,
fractious under the heavy, sexy sky. You asked her
how you were born and Mrs Tilscher smiled
then turned away. Reports were handed out.
You ran through the gates, impatient to be grown
the sky split open into a thunderstorm.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
98765 17 May 2018

hon hon hon very good poem

10 6 Reply
TopShagger 16 October 2018

Go fornicate yourself with a baguette.

1 0
TopShagger 16 October 2018

Go eat a baguette

0 0
Memelord69420noscope 16 October 2018

Eat a Baguette

0 0
-yes- 01 September 2020

yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

0 0 Reply
no 26 February 2021

no

0 0
Chad ¬-¬ 21 January 2020

Poetry is.

0 0 Reply
Marco da Vinci 01 April 2019

Is very goood becase it consist of goood use off all pontuactioon and goood language. Tank you. P.s. mi language is Nat very goood becase I am Italian. Cheeerrs

1 0 Reply
Bella+Finn 10 February 2019

This poem is utter indeed

2 0 Reply
Akmal Rashad 08 November 2018

I love this poem

3 7 Reply
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Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy

Glasgow / Scotland
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