All first graders are artists
and then we grade them and
criticize them,
make doodlers of them.
All first graders can sing
and then we grade them and
criticize them,
make hummers of them.
And then we meet,
parents and teachers, to plan
to grade them and
criticize them
for twelve long years.
And then they are educated,
like us, we
hummers, we
doodlers.
It’s a miracle that this
poem is
even here!
***