Not like in days of old stand we
Where once grandest books were taught
For now against excess we’ve fought
And died for mediocrity

In schools we once taught science and
The ancient art of rhetoric,
Taught how to read, and arithmetic
But now we teach to play in sand

The schools no longer elevate
Bright minds to reach their highest goal
Instead they push that all enroll
In universities estate

So Education for profit
Becomes the newest teaching trend
A movement which we must amend
As knowledge dies for the wallet

The torch now sputters that once burned bright,
The flame our ancestors tried to sprout,
This generation will put out
And fall into ignorant night

And so I cry “give us your best
Your brightest stars, the brilliant minds
Athena’s own that this system binds
And chokes, for I would give them rest

Where brilliance pushed may yet excel.”
Because this system that I abuse
Is nothing more than a hidden noose
Strangling the thoughts that grow and swell

Into ideas, and philosophies
Much like the ones which made us free
I beg you, allow the bright to be
The ones to lift us from our knees.