Wrong word
Laughingly I tease a student
Who asks to borrow my pen

(is she schooled?
or is she educated?
after all we do all
seem to struggle
with our verbs
and sentence-making)

Wrong word
Borrow says she
Wanting to hold on to my pen

(is this entitlement
or are we lost
in translation
right up yours
here in Belgravia Road)

Wrong word
Taking after
Am I my mother-educator

(schoolteacher-activist
tea-drinkingly English
of nature as it were
is she)

Wrong word
Borrow misappropriate
pilfer purloin pocket
snaffle skim squander

Wrong word
Seems we all are doing it

“Beyond our parliamentary gates, I kid a young student on her way to higher learning some place, Thursday morn, 19 February 2015. Even more so because of the Cape Times article “Pupils still can’t identify verbs” (17 February 2015).