Class Rules
By Kate O’Neil
In my Australian school
in the days of Empire,
we dipped our nibbed pens
in ink that was royal blue,
and, by decree,
in ink of
no other colour.
Not the blue of the sea
which girt us
nor of the arching sky
in our land of the free.
Australians were loyal
and True Blue
was royal.
Britannia ruled the waves
and Britannia ruled
the ink.
Margins however,
were to be ruled
(exactly one inch,
giving no quarter)
in erasable pencil.
I love this!
Love this, Kate! Strong comment, punchy, with ironic humour and great detail.
Loved it Kate but it brought back memories of ink, inkwells, scratchy pens and punishment if you made an ink blot on your work. Good old days? I think not.
And no margin for error,Kate ?Great
Thank you all for these comments. I can remember sighing when a grandparent began “In my day…”. And now I’m doing it. And I wish I’d listened more.