Never to be read: A poem 

I think, I knew left from right 

before I was schooled 

before I learnt my morals 

Dad never took me by the collar 

Mum was patient 

She knew I’d do my own thing 

like a gem that needed no polishing 

I can remember all the times 

the teachers said I was something else 

But I claimed nothing, even when I was proven 

I kept losing my voice at jobs 

where people wanted to take credit 

How I never got a raise! 

This work has never got praise 

This strength persevered but never did chase 

This wisdom was never mired in a haze  

To fight when everyone thinks 

you’re a fool to be the one that never blinks 

And I can see Dad and Mum smiling down at me, 

at all the lessons I’ve learned 

in my book of books 

where I write…never to be read