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Literacy

by Nancy Ames

Just 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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