Testing

SATs
Answer sheets passed out
Clammy hands nervously take them
Then the test books
Containing for many
The future of their education
With shaking hands
Filling in name, school code, age
Worried about doing something wrong
The long and tedious directions
That the teacher reads
Although everybody already knows what to do
From so much testing through the years
And finally it’s time to start.
The first section: the essay
A tense 25 minutes in which
Everybody constantly writes
No time for thinking, planning, or stopping
Next section, either math or English
And another 7 sections like this follow
With a five minute break
And a one minute break
Just enough time to catch your thoughts and breath
Before diving back into another section
In the last sections
Focus wavers
But try to keep concentration
For these scores will influence colleges
Almost done, only a few more sections
Empty bubbles blur before tired eyes
And when everybody is done
We are finally released
And all wander
Dazed down the halls
Waiting for rides home
To eat, sleep, and rest.