Original poem written by David Hernandez and interpreted by Prince Ude.
Prince Ude is a 3D Designer specializing and combining interests in the different worlds of architecture, art, design and film with a style consisting of bold use of colors and cinematic imagery. His body of work locates creativity at the intersection of humans and the unconscious mind.
AS THE HISTORY TEACHES is part of the HANDHELD POEMS collection, a limited edition video print series by theVERSEverse and Infinite Objects, in partnership with Studio As We Are.
Editions of 12.
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As the History Teacher Lectures on World War I
One student hears “mustard gas” and wonders
if the air smelled like French’s or Grey Poupon.
One chews his pencil like a chicken bone.
One executes a stickman in the margins.
Under the blond awning of bangs, one writes
in pink ink a love note to the quarterback.
One is stoned. One sniffs Wite-Out
until his desk ripples. One lifts the trapdoor
of a scab and licks his wound like a postage stamp.
One fidgets in his sleep as if rodents
tread over his flesh. One folds and folds
a sheet of paper until it flies. With spit wads,
one gives pimples to the blackboard.
We must learn from history or be doomed
to repeat it, the teacher says. One hears
the clock biting its fingernails beside the flag.