Satan’s Ivy

There’s a reason why kids don’t like school,
Why they blanch at Shakespeare and Wordsworth.
And it’s because the Devil came down to Gomorrah,
Where the libraries were, and convinced its literary men
To bang on the library doors and scream for Shakespeare,
Austen, Pope, Dryden, Wordsworth, the Brontes,
And every other poor bastard to be dragged out
So that they may be raped before each student’s eyes,
And eaten like big balls of meat to be shat out
And wiped with term papers.

Deny the Beast, you boys and girls of Eden’s gate.
Ignore the leagues of ivy wrapped
Around each bar and simply read.