The schoolyard of forever Charles Bukowski

The schoolyard was a horror show: the bullies, the dragons, the
Freaks

The beatings against the wire fence
The eyes of our mates watching
Glad that they were not the victims
We were beaten well and good
And afterwards
Followed
Taunted all the way home to our homes of hell
Full of more beatings

In the schoolyard the bullies ruled well, and in the restrooms
At the water fountains they owned us and disowned us
But in our way we held
Never begged for mercy
We took it straight on
Silently
We were trained within that horror
A horror that would later hold us in good stead
And that came around
As we grew in several ways with time
The bullies gradually began to deflate, lose power

Grammar school
Jr. high
High school
We grew like odd plants
Gathering nourishment
Blossoming
As then the bullies tried to befriend us
We turned them away