Of What They Would Rather Forget

In the schools in Ireland in the nineteen fifties by law corporal punishment was in place
And corporal punishment from a teacher entailed more than a slight slap on the face
Several strokes of a stick on the open hand did leave welts that caused pain
And though the physical and mental scars have long healed the bad memories remain

Of a time that some of the primary going school children then for all of the wrong reasons will never forget
When the only one spared of the cane happened to be the teacher's pet
An Ireland without corporal punishment in the schools better for the Irish school children of today
A change that is much for the better in truth one can say

And though bad memories from childhood into old age does last
We do have to move on in life since the past is the past
Corporal punishment in the classroom by cruel teachers used as an excuse
For the power and pleasure they received from inflicting on children physical abuse

The school children in Ireland of the nineteen fifties many decades past their physical prime
And they are now clearly showing the physical wear of time
And though the mental and physical scars have healed the bad memories live on
Of what they would rather forget from Seasons long gone.