A Poem to Be Forgotten

This is a poem they don't want you to memorise

You will not be required to answer questions on it

Nor be expected to have any of your own

This poem does not demand exclusivity

Of your intellectual curiosity or scholarly attention

Your freedom of thought is enough

This poem is technically invalid

It contains no clever exploitation of syllabic forms, couplets, triplets, metaphor, simile, assonance or alliteration

You may call it an unrhymed tercet if you must

But expect resistance

This poem was not written at the height of an empire

Made great by conquest, oppression and slavery

This poem will never be considered great

This poem contains no stirring nationalism

Pastoral comfort or Bohemian romanticism

You may, or may not, consider yourself Moved

This is a poem they don't want you to memorise

But feel free to do so if you wish

And always ask questions of your own