They deemed us empty vessels to be filled
with formulas to memorise and dates.
We kids thought school was just time to be killed
until we’d spill out through the ornate gates.
A motley bunch, those schoolmasters of old:
the idols, the degenerates, the mad:
we learned that we must do as we were told
or get struck by a well-aimed blackboard-pad.
Four years at prep, then four years in long pants,
seemed an eternity when we were young.
Eight years of plaudits interspersed with rants
until, at last, the final bell was rung
and we escaped to grow into the men
who bear the scars or stars received back then.

*****

‘The Masters’ was first published in a set of ten semi-autobiographical poems in The High Window, where Richard Fleming was the Featured Poet.

Richard Fleming is an Irish-born poet and humorist based in Guernsey, a Channel Island between Britain and France. Widely regarded as one of the island’s foremost literary voices, his versatile work blends lyricism, sharp wit, emotional depth, and a strong sense of place. Drawing from his Northern Irish roots and adopted home, his poetry and prose explore love, loss, nostalgia, identity, and modern life. Collections include Strange Journey (2012), held in the National Poetry Library, and Stone Witness (Blue Ormer) featuring the BBC-commissioned title poem. His work can be found on
Facebook https://www.facebook.com richard.fleming.92102564/
or Bard at Bay www.redhandwriter.blogspot.com

Image: L0020769 ‘The English dance of death’: The schoolmaster
Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images
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‘The English dance of death’: The schoolmaster
Aquatint
By: Combe, Pugin & RowlandsonThe English dance of death
Published: 1814-16

Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/