I still remember my first day
When my feet were leaden
As I approached the school gates
Yawing in front of me.

Where the three R’s were to be dinned
Into my head unmercilessly
Without any pause.

My hair braided tightly
And held in place by ribbons
Face scrubbed till it shone
My uniform neatly starched and pressed.

The new shoes gleaming
Pinching my toes like a vice
Already one sock had slipped down tiredly
And my knees quaking.

But I marched in with courage in my heart
Remembering the ancestors of yore
Who had the same fate as I did
On this very first day of school!