Preparing today for the standardized test
our teacher said there was a lot to digest.
We'd have to divide by the square root of three
and learn to spell zygote, façade and marquis.

We'd need to play xylophone, trumpet and flute,
accordion, banjo, piano and lute,
recite all the capital cities by heart
and learn to take rocketship engines apart.

We'd have to speak Latin, Swahili and Greek,
learn nuclear fusion and fencing technique,
remember the fables of Persia and Rome
and crack all the codes in the human genome.

Then just when we thought that our heads might explode
from learning Chinese or dissecting a toad
she told us the very best thing she could say:
that she was just kidding; it's April Fool's Day.

--Kenn Nesbitt

This poem appears in the book
No More Homework! No More Tests!