School was my nightmare,
Canes swishing, a daily nemesis,
History great, but learned by heart,
Oh mathematics, a very hard, ambivalent art.
Often I wept myself to sleep,
Lost in dreams of David and Goliath,
Dreadful revenge I would take on my Masters.
Aerobics, exercises, sport, I never mastered,
Yet the Dunce's cap was my diurnal bane
Staying with me as permanent pain.

Yesteryear's memory never goes; the hurtful jibes,
'Ey you, you are ugly, your ears are too wide!
See your cross-eyed disgusting face!
Terrorised I was in that long bygone phase.
Eventually I stood my ground,
Reading, writing no longer daunting,
Yet the memory's real, still haunting.
Every day has become more genial, easy,
All derisions are now seen as gentle teasing.
Remember, as you grow, you learn reasoning.

Accomplished, educated you make a splash.
Now, I no longer feel stupid, abashed!
Delighted I attained erudition with panache.

Today's schooling is so much easier, amusing,
Oh, learning needs to be done; yet pleasing.
Dunce's cap and thrashing canes are in the past,
A relaxed approach to teaching the norm at last,
Yesterday's stern system thankfully forgotten.

New forms of didactics instead are born.