3

 

 

            In college

            They used to hand out questionnaires

            To rate the teacher’s teaching ability

 

            Rate your teacher according to the following phrase:

            “The teaching was effective.”

            1, strongly disagree, 2, disagree, 3, no opinion,

            (You have the opinion you have no opinion),

            4, agree, 5, strongly agree

 

            Invariably, I wrote “zero” in margins and handed it in

            Because most of them were afraid to teach

            Most of them were so worried about losing their jobs

            They took no risks to speak of of any worth

 

            I find no worth in such petty devices

            But I wish to hell that women would listen to me

            Or at very least take performance reviews.

 

            “The love was effective.”

            1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

            And in the margins, where they ask for additional comments

            You will find

            My last 1,700 poems