Thinking education in America akin to Patagonian Pumping Spiders
Back flipping through flaming hoops,
I imagined our precious system more like
A snail affixed to the heat of a match.
Home-and-all is too horrified by its own stupefied revelations
Found within the match to light the awaiting bonfire.
Scared of the stack and with everywhere to go,
The snail doesn’t give two sugars. The system doesn’t either.
Coffee or no coffee, take it or leave it.
My final hasty words to the sorry old system were:  
Thanks South, now for the real challenge.
But the words are etched in the napkin! In any case, it is too late now.

Thinking in a collegiate setting is even less scrupulous because
At least now we don’t pretend to know.
The hoops still stand and they’ve received
A fresh coat of lacquer and saw dust
Just in time too, for I found some salt;
I was just about to take the match and light the fire myself.
Teachers, across the board, have bonfires of their own,
I discovered, often hidden, rarely for show and
Rarer yet are they used for cooking. The point is a simple one:
To each teacher who has ever taught me anything
And especially to those who’ve kept the fire burning:
Thank you.