Old School

Having to face that first day back
after the long break
is what always took the shine off holidays.
Summer ended. Days cooled.
You got a new uniform and went back to school.
And you returned and returned and returned
and returned and returned until eventually
you were allowed to leave. Then you burned
your blazer and shredded your tie.
You ended your ties with that place.
You threw away the grey trousers
and didn’t have to wear the black shoes any more.
For, my young friends, that’s what it was like
in those days.

At the end of the school day (3.50 p.m.)
you ran for the bus
through the small town,
hurtling along the High Street
in the hope of claiming your favourite seat,
and on the way
the rough kids from the Secondary Modern
knocked your caps off
because they thought you were posh
though you weren’t
you were just cleverer than them
because you’d passed the 11 plus exam
but you formed a gang
and beat the uncouth bastards up.
Taught them a lesson!

The really clever kids were put
in a different form to you
(4a perhaps, you were in 4b
- some ended up in 4c
and did art and woodwork)
but you did ok.
After school you went
to teacher training college or got a job
because jobs were easy to find
and they grew on trees.