The Speed Reader
I signed up for a speed reading course.
I was a slow reader, due to being forced.
The course was by Evelyn Woodhead.
By the time I was done, I was almost dead.
Read faster or lose a finger.
Keep reading. It’s no time to linger.
Read when the pressure is on.
Keep reading from dusk to dawn.
Keep reading and do not sleep.
Keep reading and do not eat.
If you stop you may lose your head.
Keep reading or you’ll end up dead.
I read like hell just to survive.
I had to make it out alive.
I read War And Peace in less than a day.
There was no time to relax and play.
Such a course is run by the devil.
I am talking on the level.
Finally, came the day I got my degree.
Signed in blood for all to see.
I can speed read like a champ.
Even though many others can’t.
There’s just one problem with the lot.
When I start, I just can’t stop.
—————————-R.W. Johnson—–(2017)