Standardized Testing

sitting ducks all crammed tight in

row after row

sardines in a tin

like good little soldiers

marching lock step

clicking over the keys

pent up anxiety releasing like steam

through perpetually bouncing knees

awaiting their fate on the flip side of the screen

tik tok goes the clock

a calamitous sound

sit straight!

eyes front!

no looking around!

pencils up!

pencils down!

be sure to keep pace like good little soldiers

not one mark out of place

and i?

all the while perched vulture-like

proctorizing the class

the gaoler, the prison guard

make sure they all pass

but my hands are ziptied

and the kids are terrified

with no way to slide around

this intellectual torture

are we really teaching

and are they really learning

or is it just the robotic churning of standardized gunk

inside i weep

i scream

i agonize

for each set of desolate hopeless empty eyes

grey ashen and weary

brimful with chagrin

til it spills on the floor in a puddle

and my brain is so muddled i almost ask

"is this a testing irregularity,

and do i report it to the authorities?"

and when i look out again

at these still-too-young soldiers

now prisoners of this standardized war

my face now a mask of a cheshire cat grin

and i say in a voice unfeeling and grim

pronouncing their sentence..."You may begin."