THE SCHOOL WAY GOES …

En route to the beach
I stop outside the school gates –
Stand still. Watch.
From around a corner
appears a line of 12 small children
all uniformed in navy shirt, white shoes.
Class Teacher leads her schoolgoers’ small phalanx,
there is no harsh marching – simply a quiet companionable one-behind-another
along the outskirts of a building
towards a classroom.

Not silence, but the odd quiet word – occasionally a skip and a jump
Not fast or slow, just the natural child’s pace.

Class follows class
as line after line
comes into view from behind,
walks forward, disappears – with Teacher - into a classroom.

One teacher waves at me
while leading her company in three snaking circles
before disappearing.

I stand rooted, still and silent –
transfixed by the schooling performance
of the primary children of my village.

How wonderful is ‘Schooling’!
Children absorbing seamlessly how to live as orderly human beings
throughout their lives, among others, and in community/society.
How terrifying is absence and lack of good Schooling.

Silence reigns and all doors are closed.
All the children are in class.
I stand alone –moved to tears -
and to Hope.
Continue on my path – entranced, happy.

Outside in the street cars and vehicles rush on,
wheels racing on our hard, macadamized, linear, engineered road.
Speed rules
Impatience rules
Ignoring road courtesies and rules,
self-centredness rules.

It’s the world here, 07.30 am, my/Kleinmond village
It’s probably the world elsewheres.