“What’d you learn at school today?”
my mom will surely ask.
I’m certain that my answer
will leave her quite aghast.
I learned that spit wads stick to walls
and on the teacher’s cheek.
I learned I have detention
after school for one whole week.
I learned the cafeteria
is a carrot “no-fly” zone.
I learned that I will eat my lunch
in a small room all alone.
I learned that science chemicals
can make a stinking mess.
I learned I lost the privilege
of enjoying noon recess.
I learned my vicious dodge-ball throws
can hurt a person’s chin.
I learned that I no longer may
participate in gym.
I learned the school bus is no place
to trip kids with my feet.
I learned that I will ride all year
in a private front-row seat.
If moms would just quit asking,
“What’d you learn at school today?”
their hearts would not be broken
and their hair would not turn gray.
Copyright © 2006 Paul Orshoski. From My Teacher’s In Detention. Meadowbrook Press. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Paul Orshoski is a former educator from Sandusky, Ohio. He writes witty, rhyming children’s poems and books.
Several of Paul’s poems have appeared in poetry anthologies published by both Meadowbrook Press of Minnetonka, Minnesota and Scholastic, Inc. of New York, New York. These include: My Teacher’s in Detention, Dinner with Dracula, I’ve Been Burping in the Classroom, I Hope I Don’t Strike Out, and What I Did on my Summer Vacation. Paul’s poems have also appeared in the following magazines: Boys’ Quest, Fun For Kidz, Hopscotch For Girls, and Scholastic Action. Paul enjoys making kids giggle during school author visits by enthusiastically performing his poems and books in small or large group settings wherever he is asked to present.
Visit his website at: www.paulorshoski.com