Even to his own ears his words were losing meaning
These narratives of dispossession, of alienation, of violent resentment
Resonate so strongly in modern popular youth culture
Precisely because youth experience is replete without rage powerlessness
He thought there'd be a lectern, like back at his uni
Instead the pimpled green government issue plastic of the chair under him mockingly squeaks
Timed like a masterly fart to refute his analysis
The only faces still looking at him glaring patronising glee
Most don't even care to see his undoing
This voiceless, unarticulated, rage, more potent precisely because it remains dumb
Permeates the lyrics of modern rap artists
Around him in the busted filth of the classroom
The circle of students seems to form into one late-adolescent face of sneered rejection
"You calling Tupac dumb?" says the face
Their teacher, who invited him all the way out here to speak, immediately stands up
But they didn't need their 16 or 17 years of education in threat to sense the man's long-defeated anger
Outside from the car park reserved for guests to the school
You can almost faintly hear the routine scratching of duco
You're a long way from home brainy boy

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