Applause for Antwerp poet who resigned after refusing to write a critical poem

ransom

Stupid oil, oil, the state of these students from the age of twelve
It is still written verbatim with “a” or “b”. Welcome to high school!

Question for Flanders: When is society completely flat?
Is that when lawyers and senators strike? or if plumbers,
Bakers and dockers not attending?

Oh really! The earth is turned when the owners of the roofs gossip,
When all the shopkeepers clean their shovels, at the nannies
They put on diapers themselves, when the chefs send their cats to Nam Phong,
Mr. Spaghetti and to all boarding schools.

And who is the smartest now, someone who knows where Aconcagua is
(Question Who is the smartest person in the world) Or who can draw the entire flowchart
And perform for the school kitchen, meeting rooms Sportpaleis, and Whitestrat?
Someone who knows how much a flamingo weighs or someone who can operate a crane
Without the puma falling on the cold tiles before the lights went out?

We should talk about Ministers A and B. Then they will
Maybe understand what the feeling. As if we were the second option
As if learning a craft could only be a plan B
Because when no one lies in the first direction, he doesn’t go.

Soon, you, Flanders, will still demand ransom for the word “smart.”
that you were held hostage a long time ago, and only for the examinees,
For Doctors, Architects, Scientists, Mrs. Michaels and Lawyers.

While we, the makers of the stairs, calculate the slope, the ideal distance between the steps. Can you do that, Flanders? And do you know everything, like us mechanics, about the correct tension on the camshaft bolts or how to replace the timing belt?
For the perfect valve timing?

As long as you, Flanders, don’t call the craftsman also clever
In newspapers, game shows and news,
You don’t deserve an A in your name of Flanders.

Ruth Lusters, written in collaboration with Kelvin Camau, Miguel Angel, Charlotte Siberis, Amber Sereisen, Nianno van Mecklen and Ine Michaels of Spectrum School in Durn.