THE secret of standardized tests are the little ovals
you have to fill in just the right way —
The ABCDEs amount to nothing,
your every agonized choice meaningless.
Forget all those fancy new words
Discard sine and cosine from your mind
What matters are the ovals —

No computer is involved.
Just a man alone in a room full of paper
with a magnifying glass
''She's filled the ovals just right — 1440!''
''His ovals are sloppy — 880!''

When he stops to clean his glass,
he makes sure he wipes along the entire curve
until the lens is spotless …