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Literacy by Nancy AmesJust one alphabet,
an imprint on the brain,
and you'll never forget
or be puzzled again.
If you use your head,
you can save your feet;
the mind must be fed
and a book is a treat.
Reading and writing
are private activities
but mingling's the thing
in your towns and your cities.
The retail and wholesale
of popular cultures:
peacock and nightingale
enjoyed by vultures.
One day in the evening,
you'll want to impart
the frustrated meaning
that's hurting your heart.
Misunderstanding's
a product of fear
but all happy endings
are perfectly clear.
And something is learned
when professors are fooled
and the children are turned
into the over-schooled.
Don't study too long,
after you're literate,
go totally wrong
and still be an idiot. 09/28/2008
Author's Note: A few thoughts on the dilemmas of literacy, educational systems, and ivory-tower elitism that tends to lose the connection between theory and practice.
Posted on 09/28/2008 Copyright © 2026 Nancy Ames
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