By Lewis Howell
⏱ Wednesday 9th August 2017

"Turn left and then your destination is on your right."

Google maps bellowed at me like a monotone symphony from my coat pocket.

I looked up to a frightful sight,

A monster!

The bleak brick work of the inner city comprehensive

crept up skyward like a humongous holy terror,

It lurched over me threateningly, pensive

exuding an aura of fright,

Surely a creature such as this one would frighten students, teachers and tutors alike?!

 

My heart begins to race,

Boom, b-boom, b-boom... b-b-b-b-b-boom!

My M&S heels seem drawn towards the beast, ramping up the pace

clip, clop, clip, clop, clipiddy clop.

 

A beating heat is emerging from the beast like a hellish furnace,

A crescendo of screams bellowed from the playground

My pasty face embellished with an uncomfortable grimace,

Oh, I wish I was still safe in bed!

 

"Don't let them see you smile until Christmas!"

Juxtaposing advice from everyone and anyone clashing and colliding in my head,

Their beady eyes will be transfixed on me, weighing up ability, like a ringmaster at a circus,

Oh I wish I was still in bed!

 

But surely, I should reminisce, a sort of, educational superhero by now?

Worksheets tucked snugly into my tight red y-fronts,

"Sworn to eliminate educational inequality!" as my vow,

Quotes from novels and poems crammed into even the tiniest crevice that my brain would allow?

 

I emerge fearful, yet fresh faced, through the automatic double doors,

A prim lady grins at me behind a stationary strewn desk,

Handing over my ID, DBS..., you know the score

I sit, hoping the squidgy chair would engulf me, never have I faced a challenge so grotesque!

 

My hands are convulsing like an earthquake,

I am bumbling and jumbling wreck of naivety and nerves,

Suddenly, and all at once I realise, there is no escape!

I must deliver an engaging yet rigorous session, thou must serve!

***

My pupil, was not as I feared, a tiger.

And I was not a zebra stumbling away from her furious advances

Rather, when she tried, she did so with every bodily fibre.

I commanded authority and earned her respect, without a second glance!

 

Her response to poems was agile and fluid,

She read newspaper articles critically and disputed,

So why, I pondered, is she not achieving,

She simply isn't believing!

 

It was then I saw the problem,

The issue,

And I made it my mission.

 

Young people are often misunderstood.

Like a scab or leech.

So listen up and hear my speech!

You can't just wait until they're old enough

Kid yourself that you've helped and preach!

 

Don't tear them off and toss away their problems...

to the next town or country or continent.

Their talents are truly awesome!

 

They are the future,

The next me and you,

How can I help might you ask?

Why, you could work at the Tutor Trust too!

Date of publication: 09/08/2017