in the main
sustainable conversational exchanges
seem overlooked
in our schools:
students arrive with their ticket
and the jurisdiction
approves and
authorizes mimicry
for the next life stage
perpetuating
furtive gossip in doctor’s waiting rooms,
mixed hoo-ha at sporting events,
misogyny in the front bar and,
gobbledygook in mental institutions

no,
in our classrooms
we deal with sentences

First published by Green Tree Publishing in ‘oxygen’ edited by Cheryl Howard April 2021