I’m a student it’s true
though I’m lesser than you
as I sit at my desk awaiting a test
I know there’s no way I’ll pass
because you are the best

You’re a teacher for sure
with your heels and you’re books.
They sit on the shelfs in this dusty old room
staring me down as if they’ve got a clue
when the real one in charge has only been you.

I glance to the side,
there’s a girl chewing gum.
You glare at her lips and she turns red and runs
up to the trash can then plops down at her desk.
Oh, how I dread this magnificent test.

They sneer and they snort
and one tries to look sick.
My silly little classmate, the one they call slick.
For sure they’ve heard stories, as have I in my time.
Of the horrors witnessed, of the uncanny crimes.

Tests on Mondays, floats your boat.
A million questions about Beowulf quotes
Authors galore though we wheedle and whine.
Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Austen and Poe
Oh it is stifling, oh it is woe.

Finally you come to stand
at the head of my table; at the end of the lan
I’m sure I’m done for
“Kill me know” screams my mind
I’d rather die a thousand deaths than take a test that’s timed.

“It’s simple” and I almost scream
I’m all for drama, but really that’s mean.
Don’t lie to your students, it just isn’t right.
The paper is there and it’s got questions galore
I almost faint as my pen falls to the floor.

Who knows what’s next in her torture set.
Vocabulary, rhetorical devices and grammar catch me up like a net
as I’m tossed in the slammer. My conscience starts to whimper as she gives us directions.
“Write your name at the top, and please don’t be shy.
This test is to get to know you. Like the color of your eyes.”

Wait a minute. That’s not how it goes.
A test is something hard something you’ve gotta learn to know.
Then as she settles back into her chair stares of wonder and awe follow her there.
“You’ve got fifteen minutes to complete as much as you can, good luck to you all.” I started to stand.
Then I sat down and finished my test. What a nice teacher, perhaps even the best.