Maybe

Teach a man... he'll conquer the world.
What if this man must conquer such world to be taught?
One child in a classroom
one plus one does not equal two
As his stomach grumbles with only remnants
of last night's frozen dinner.
'something ain't' not 'something isn't' right
As his deep muddy eyes strain to see the scrawls etched
on the not too distant chalkboard.
lincoln was martin luther king jr on that morning in gettysburg
As he tries to remember the winter morning when he last saw his daddy
but can only see those flashing lights.
The classroom bleeds onto the streets.
Teachers become brothers.
Grades are issued with the finality of a bullet.
Yet if only this young man could conquer the world.
Then maybe, just maybe it would teach him.