The Sound of Ignorance

Written seven years ago as a personal note, on 20120523 0043hr.
Posted here today 20191022.

The Sound of Ignorance.
(Sung to the tune of Simon & Garfunkel's Sound of Silence)

Hello, students my old friends,
I'm here to talk to you again,
Because a thought is slowly rising
In my mind it's not surprising,
That the ideas that are carried in my thought
Will not be sought
. . . amidst the sound of ignorance.

In sleepy class I teach alone
To blank expressions cold as stone.
'Neath the shadow of a fluorescent lamp,
I am talking to a mindless camp,
When my words are stopped by the ringing of your phone -
A startling tone
. . . it breaks the sound of ignorance.

In the fluorescent light I see
Thirty people minus three,
People chatting while I'm speaking,
People sleeping and not listening,
People sending texts to others everywhere,
And no one cares
. . . about the sound of ignorance.

There's something you do not know:
Ignorance like cancer grows.
Hear my words and let me speak to you.
Take my hand and let me lead you.
But my words - flow like water from the rain,
Into the drain
. . . drowned by the sound of ignorance.

And you students laughed and played
With the avatars you've made.
Then your phone flashed out a warning,
as its battery charge is waning,
But the warning of your teacher you ignored,
And you're bored
. . . amidst the sound of ignorance.

(by Harold Huang, 23-5-2012 0043 hr)