We are here today, to lessen the burden,

with oval dots and rigorous minutiae

our lives in the cradle of society,

based upon computer printouts,

with hours of anxiety, sweat and fatigue,

we will measure your self-image

in just a few hours, brief analogy.

Recall your lives as you walk in the door,

put on the back-burner your self-worth,

until the final results are returned,

we cannot value ideals beyond a number.

~

Scanning the room, I see faces,

anticipation, fear, boredom, preoccupation,

all of the same yet miles away

from the world they live in,

today they belong to us,

the ovals and diagrams,

short paragraphs and hypotheses,

every aspect of our day,

will be tested today.

~

The quiet of the room, reveals short breathing,

heavy sighs and a nasal drip,

a sneeze a sniffle, a sneeze, nasal drip,

and everyone endures the lesson together,

like an open seasoned prison camp,

their lives dependent upon scan sheets

along with prompts written by human beings.

~

What is the measure of a testing day,

when outside the world crumbles away.