We were registered as a form, and for the first day
Left unsupervised alone in a distant room
With empty desks to organise our own war.
Using books and inkwells was the easy way
Of creating bombardments — conkers and apple-cores came
In useful also, and in the master’s drawer
There were sheets of exercise-paper which would acquire,
When neatly folded, the speed of darts to fly
Sharply across to send warnings of attack.