What they didn’t teach us on the PGCE

By Alison Binney

Which questions to answer. What to do
with a dropped tissue. How to stand back.
How to hold your breath. What not to hand out.
When to hide in the loo. How to go to school
the day the newsreader’s voice cracks.
How to give out books without touching them.
When to turn away. How to wash your hands
after the soap runs out. How to stay at home.
How to sit at a desk. How to listen to a missing
homework. When to switch off. How silent
a Chat can be. What to say to the dad who doesn’t
want any of that school bollocks in his house.
How to go back. What to leave behind. How
to teach poems in a lab. How to command
respect in a mask. What to forget. How to fill holes.
What that cough doesn’t mean. When to breathe.
How to spot confusion from two metres.
What not to take in. How many bananas you need.
What to say to the boy whose mum died
after he brought it home. How much
you can carry. Why there is never enough tea.

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Written Word ‘Head’ poems