This Morning Is Our History Test
This morning is our history test.
I’ve pinned my notes inside my vest.
Inside my coat I wrote my notes,
including dates and famous quotes.
I’ve written more upon my hand
that only I can understand,
and in my socks and sleeves I stowed
my scribbled notes in secret code.
I’ve written down so many names
of winners of Olympic games,
of buildings, people, places too,
from Tennessee to Timbuktu.
I even copied down a piece
on ancient Rome and ancient Greece,
plus everything from Shakespeare’s plays
to who invented mayonnaise.
I came to school so well prepared.
I wasn’t nervous, wasn’t scared.
But here it is, the history test.
I look inside my coat and vest
to get the dates and famous quotes
and find I cannot read my notes.
So much for Shakespeare, Greece and Rome.
I left my glasses back at home.
— Kenn Nesbitt
Copyright © 2005. All Rights Reserved.
Reading Level: Grade 4
Topics: School Poems
Poetic Techniques: Alliteration, Assonance, Irony, Narrative Poems
Word Count: 151
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