Such a Clamour

Another bloody staff-meeting –Albert told us that time is relative,And to sit at the end of the day and keepYour head down as a barrage of bullshitCame your way was to know thatThe old boy did not have one stein too many.

So many years have had their say sinceI hid in a gaggle of teachers and facedThe other side – the Head and his little crew.But I remember the Head’s right-hand woman,And how she betrayed herselfAt the fag-end of one of my burnt-out days:

A mere dinner lady had brazenly insistedThat there was no way her ladies couldClear up quietly as the staff meetingWent its own cheery way –And if anyone could wash up quietly,Well then, they’d better come and try it.

John and I chimed in like a Greek chorus –Too naïve, too loud:‘Fair enough.’Soft pedal the truth, I would now sayTo a young teacher -Or declaim in a world of the deaf.