Like a blight on burgeoning brains
the pervasive suppression of honest reflection
unbridled inquiry and healthy dissent

thrives behind the shield of assumed scholastic virtue
that runs cover for the program that seeks to prevent
genuine erudition and wisdom;
thrives behind the sacrosanct guise
of an ostensibly enlightened curricular system;

behind that peerless indoctrination agent
masquerading as education with its dedication
to teaching what to think instead of how;

behind that go-to tool for inculcating rules
and instilling conditioned submission
as young minds are drilled in gov-approved schools

where conformity enforcement
and the ingestion of unquestioned information
are the primary goals of so much robotic
orthodoxy-propping regurgitation

in schools where lip-service praise
is paid to the laudably liberal if in-theory-only principles
of uncorralled curiosity and free-ranging thought

while in practice these are seen as signs of defiance
as the penned-in sheep are routinely taught
the enormous rewards of blind compliance

alongside its inverse the steep cost of deviance
from belief in the big lies and myths
that serve to legitimize state crime

— the lesson of lessons being the blessings of obedience
and the curse that awaits those who think out of line.