In classrooms we are governed by shame.
In a war of words,
To speak is weak
& silence is violence.
Taut is the rope in the mental tug of war,
Whose red ribbon straddles the border between the teacher and the taught.
Those who answer on the front lines are traitors to the cause,
While those who keep lips closed disclose nothing to confirm the enemy's blows are hitting home.
For the feigned supposition of ignorance is perhaps the greatest mechanism of defensive deception.