Think twice

Received a call yesterday from an old Historian pal - TeacherDebs - who's working in the BigCity. She shared with me a story that emerged from her covering another teacher's class. In a nutshell: there's a young rogue who TeacherDebs had previously regarded as a bit of a handful, she knew he'd had one or two run-ins with the police, and he isn't one who the other kids would mess with. An impression of a 'tough nut' begins to emerge. Well, he shocked his classmates in their year 7 (aged 11-12) English class whilst talking about 'Love Poetry', by announcing that he'd written a poem about an Asian girl who lives near him but who he's never spoken to. TeacherDebs - covering for the regular teacher - said she was completely lost for words. Though she didn't have the poem to share (for it was at the young hound's home), I was warmed by the anecdote. I jotted words as we chatted. By the end of the conversation I'd come up with this:

- The Girl Down Our Street -

There's an Indian family lives down our street
With smart brown kids who are always neat
These kids go to the private school
On the other side of town where it's not very cool

Gorgeous smells come from their kitchen
If they offered their Mum I'd be up for switchin'
Shahida the daughter talks really funny
I reckon that's cos they've got loads of money

What with the voice and the cooking that's nice
I think Shahida's the real Posh Spice

***
I love the notion of the heroic ne'er-do-well.