Education

Poem 647 – Modern Laws of Physics

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The contents of the freezer expand to fill all available space, plus some
Packing always takes longer than expected
Weather changes when schools break up
The distance to the service station is a constant
Going into extra time guarantees penalties
Age is inversely proportionate to the number of festival headliners recognised
The youth of today will moan about the youth of tomorrow who will moan about…
Satnavs cannot pronounce Stevenage (Stev-en-age?!)

A variety of ‘laws’ that have come up in conversation this week.
(04.08.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Thomas T on Unsplash

Poem 628 – Farewell Year 6

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Farewell Year 6, it’s been a laugh.
Grab shirts and pens and autograph!
Big fish, small pond, it’s time to leave,
Your future’s bright so we believe.
The things you’ve learnt while you’ve been here,
Will serve you well, so keep them near.
Remember friends, grow tall, grow strong,
We pray God’s blessing on what’s to come!

One of the joys of my job is being involved in the life of our local primary schools. Today it was Leavers’ Services day, here’s a prayer/poem I wrote and used at one of them.
(17.07.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by byquincy on Unsplash

Poem 573 – Celebrating Life

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On your marks…. Go!
So off we went, a drumming
river flowing round
the field in endless circles.

Some formed gentle eddies,
whilst others became torrents,
crashing waters surging
forwards with urgency.

Let’s run with zest the Head
had said and so we did,
with cheers and tears and joy,
remembering why we ran.

We poured until our muscles
ached and lungs were spent,
then flung ourselves upon
the shore in celebration.

I joined a local primary school for their annual run to remember a further student who sadly passed away. As always the pupils and community were great.
(23.05.25)

© Ben Quant 2025
Photo by Mina Rad on Unsplash

Poem 195 – School’s Out

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The final word is written,
all pens put down, books closed.
The last bell rings and out
you flow, released, tears shed
in streams of joy and sadness.
Now certainty’s exchanged
for possibility.
When summer fades you will
return but not to us.
A new community
awaits, potential on
the cusp of being written.

I had the joy of playing a part in the Leavers’ Assembly for a local primary school last week. One of the delights of my position is being a part of their community, and seeing fine young people emerge, flourish, and take their next steps.
(24.07.23)

© Ben Quant 2023
Photo by Chang Duong on Unsplash

Poem 186 – And Relax…

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It’s finally done
The never-ending
task has reached
its end, full stop.
Conclusion signed,
sealed and delivered.
One question left,
that’s all. Tonight?
Just celebration.
Celebration and sleep.
Celebration, sleep,
and joyful emptiness.

This morning was viva day take two. Last chance saloon. This time I passed!
(28.04.23)

© Ben Quant 2023

Poem 185 – Tomorrow

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Today’s a day for not looking,
for refusing to see. A day
of pretence, for living in distraction.
A day of denial, refusing to
acknowledge what waits. A toddler
holding its hands over its eyes so
it can’t be seen. Today,
I shall not feel the weight
upon my back. Today,
I dam the dike with a finger,
adrenaline stoppered for now.
Today, I write verse. Tomorrow?
Tomorrow doesn’t exist.
Not yet. Tomorrow must wait.

Tomorrow I sit my doctoral viva retake. I should be revising.
(27.04.23)

© Ben Quant 2023
Photo by Gabor Koszegi on Unsplash

Psalm 151 – The Reckoning

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It’s the strangest feeling,
When someone else is pouring,
Over words that you,
And you alone, have known.
Your baby, your secret, yours
But now no longer so.
It’s out there, in the wild.
It’s prone, susceptible.
Exposed to public whim.
How will they handle it?
With care or carelessness?
Indifference or joy?
Now the time of reckoning.

My thesis is rewritten and has just returned from my proofreader. Soon it will be submitted, and this labour of love and anger will be handed over to others to judge…
(07.12.22)

© Ben Quant 2022

The Pause

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I’ve been more than a little quiet on the poetry front recently, and may remain so for a little longer. Let me explain….

Some of you may be aware that alongside writing poems last year, I was also writing my thesis for a DMin (Doctor of Ministry) – I’m a church minister as well as a dabbler in verse. If you read Poem 71 – The Verdict, you would have picked up that it didn’t quite go to plan… My thesis as it stood was failed in my viva, and they sent me away with a year to rewrite and submit if I wanted to. I won’t go into all the ins and outs here, but I won’t lie, I was and am still angry and emotional about this, as Poem 71 might suggest! Still, I’ve got on with it, and am currently crashing through the final chapters. This is taking a lot of time and attention as it is a complete rewrite, and I’ve not got time/emotion to spare for poems alongside this and work (a family wedding was another distraction, but much nicer, see Poem 137!) I’m aiming at getting a complete draft done by the end of September if I can, and so hopefully after then the poems will begin to reappear more regularly.

Today I’m celebrating having completed a major milestone, a significant chapter finished! It suddenly all begins to look a little more possible. Time for a deep breath and I’ll see you on the other side!

Poem 71 – The Verdict

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Today, I feel bereft, by lover scorned
A father’s ache as wayward child withdraws
I breathed my breath in you, my pulse, my thought
Do I deserve your snarling teeth and claws?

The pain of losing one too close is yet
Unknown to me but here I gain a taste
The labour throes expectantly endured
But cuckoo-like competing twins supplace

Adrift I grapple to regain control
An aimless ship that’s lost its sense of place
The pride anticipated at your birth
Usurped as hollowness and anger rage

Give me some space to rant and weep then pass
A paper bag to help me once more breathe
I know tomorrow I will find a way
But until then I simply need to grieve

Yesterday I received the written report on my viva for my DMin which took place just before Christmas. I already knew the outcome, after seven years of work the examiners sent me away to substantially rewrite it, which came as a complete shock to me, but receiving the formal letter and report once more unmoored me.
(13.01.22)

© Ben Quant 2022