She laughed,
And said, "I brainwashed you well,
Strapped you down and planted you
In front of a monitor
Which spouts formulas
To learn and memorize.
Close your eyes if you must.
Daydream to your heart's content.
You can't escape it,
You can't unlearn it
By destroying your mind with
Drugs, alcohol and violent television.
There it will stay
Deep in the recesses of your mind
Like a hermit in a dark cave
Never moving,
Unresponsive to life outside."

I laughed,
And said, "You call it brainwash,
You drive knowledge
Into the skulls of ignorant fools
Like a railroad spike.
You think you own the
Vast, and vacant space in my mind
Veiled by abstract formulas
That I have memorized
But never learned.
That I have heard
But never absorbed.
You can test me.
I'll get the answers right.
I'll score perfect
But I won't know why.
You call this brainwash.
I call it teaching.