(an imagined, overheard soliloquy by a Scottish Granpa / Grandma, should they ever take an early bus in Singapore) .

Bairns on the bus
At six-a.m.
Skale-bound.
Is that no' a hellish thing?
Tae see them ae
sae weary -
Eyes half claised
heids hinging doon,
Mooths doon-turned an dreary -
And a' fur what?
Sae their Ma can boast
O' her bairnie's skills
At piano, violin or badminton?
Let the bairns be bairns
For pity's sake.
Sich cruelty
Has nae place
Amang the wise.
But then, maybe
Ye yersel were driven daft
Afore the age o twelve
By pressure-cooker gowks
Wi crazy expectations.

Nomad Omnia

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/bairns/