36

six times six is thirty six
why did this give us such a fix?
we weren't taught the tables
they weren't in our mix
but how on Ur could they predict
that ignored child was into it?

so they sent us to learn to prance
to make funny faces and do a little dance
overheating in a costume like being eaten by ants
"What potential he has!" they repeated in a trance
and there we were on a track to "advance"

No one asked who we were, they told us instead
filled us with lies and terror and dread
the idea of not being a man like being dead
it took us a while to choose living instead