Educational Torture

• Ifreet Mahmood
• Poetry
• 2009

The hall is so silent I can hear each second go by
As can everyone else trapped in this place
Shadows surround you, they watch with keen eyes
Ready to strike at your every mistake

Row after row, desk after desk
Seat after seat of friend after friend
All of them forced to take this test
Each praying fervently for the hour to end

Pen scratches paper, leaving its mark
Whether right or wrong, we don't know for sure
Taunting white sheets laced with lines of dark
They say it will end but there's always more

Question upon question, each harder than the last
Asking you for more than what is their right
But you have no choice, you must finish the task
For failure is unforgivable in this irritable plight