Exam stress

When you write

            - I was told -

        you should write

        as if

            a worker is checking on you

                        over your shoulder.

You should be careful

            with every choice of

                    word, preposition, grammatical tenses.

Or else

        you might fail

            your class.

So I was told

And so I have written

Until a few years ago

When

The examiner

        wasn't behind me

        but instead

        in front of me.

More like an oral exam

            rather than written.

She asked me:

            - What is the solution?

I parroted some trivialities

            which I read in textbooks,

            capitalism, bourgeoisie, alienation, hegemony, class consciousness

                - the usual stuff.

She wasn't satisfied:

            - What's the answer?

My eyes shined.

            I had studied that part:

            revolution!

She was even less satisfied:

            - Show your work.

*

From here

            to there,

        step by step

                each step with rigorous proof.

My blood pressure spiked.

        I could feel my heart in my head.

What the hell?

A centuries-old open question

            could not be in an exam

        Could it?

Perhaps.

It's the finals, after all.

You never know.

*

But also

        you do know

        I do know

Facing the examiner

            facing the class,

        class is also facing me.

We have a problem to solve

                    or else we'll fail.