Lesson 3: Analyzing & Composing poem

The Son is in Secondary School by Affran Sa'at

My badge has a Latin motto

Hope for the future

The future is hope

Or something

At times black crows try to interrupt

When we sing the National Anthem

It is difficult to maintain

The whiteness of my shoes

Especially on Wednesdays

I must admit there is something quite special

About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts

The Malay chauffeurs

Who wait for my schoolmates

Sit on the car park kerb

Telling jokes to one another

Seven to the power of five is unreasonable

On Chinese New Year

Mrs Lee dressed up

In a sarong kebaya

And sang Bengawan Solo

The capital of Singapore is Singapore

My best friend did a heroic thing once

Shaded all A's

For his Chinese Language

Multiple-choice paper

In our annual yearbook

There is a photograph of me

Pushing a wheelchair and smiling

They caught me

At the exact moment

When my eyes were actually closed

What are the poet's thoughts? What were his feelings as he think back on these ?

The writer probably feels amused at his friend's and his past actions. He also remembers the difficulty of secondary school life.


Think back on our days in Primary School. Do you share the same sentiments? What were your memories of those days? Write a poem of no less than 4 stanzas.

Then I was still in primary school
Joking and fooling around
Teachers chasing students for homework
Happens everyday

When the bell rings
At exactly 1.00 pm
The students will pack
And run from the classroom

Exams and tests come by
All sit in a quiet room
Trying to write something
To tell the teacher I know the answers

After six years of studying
We all will leave this school
Chatted endlessly
Before saying goodbye