On Assessments

We are the children
Of the second pen
Numbere’d Two
Selecting symmetrical
Alphabetical replies.

Perfectly dense questions:
Decorate cross stitch cascades
Weave mindfull the morass.
Prove knowing through clear
Fair reasoning–one, two, three.

I have always know how to hold a pencil.
Bubble my name in backwards.
A truth on cardstock, a number
A name, a value, a vessle,
A system of symmetry, a timer is sounding.
Place your pencils down.

Now get a job, make a living,
Learn by doing, earn by knowing,
Accumulate senority, build a career.

Tell them to study; encourage rote.
Hand them a pencil: the next gen-
accumulating milestones, learning,
omitting, passing…

…arbitrarily onto what awaits.
–ECW