Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky, Russian
“Am I Reading This Right, Jimmy? You and the Other School Bullies Want To Unionize?,” Date Unknown
Oil on canvas
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/// In old Russia at this Rural School,
students sat in wood seats, as a rule.
But this tightly packed swarm
is to keep them all warm;
chairs and benches were turned into fuel.
/// Their young teacher, in his peasant sweater,
reads the children a handwritten letter.
What it says must be learned
before it will be burned.
Textbooks, too, are all gone— books burn better.
/// That “woke” letter was one of his pranks,
meant to irritate right-leaning cranks.
Delete each third word— Presto!
Write a new manifesto
when, like Mad Libs, you fill in the blanks.
/// In the Spring, when it’s no longer freezing,
and his pupils stop wheezing and sneezing,
he’ll be able to teach
without fog from his speech
hemmed by huddles of kids tightly squeezing.