Friday, January 4, 2013

Spring.

I am given to such nostalgia,
on a snowy morning,
at the start of a semester.

One year, not too far away,
some Spring semester
will be my last.

I will put on these boots,
and this old hat,
and I will make final trudges.

Snow on a campus makes me happy.

Everyone likes the real Spring,
with blooming and crickets
and frisbee-flingers.

Me, I like the cold,
when students hurtle themselves indoors,
hats and gloves flying.

Where else to go?
Might as well stay here
with old Dick Tingle.

I hope the snow remains
all weekend long,
freezing the college,

freezing my resolve to get after it
once again.

6 comments:

  1. Nicely done! I especially like the images of the frisbee-fingers and the hats and gloves flying, as well as the very satisfactory ending of the poem. One of your best, I think.

    Interesting in the reality of it, too, of course. I prefer the start of spring semester (or winter, depending on where one teaches) to fall semester. There's something workaday about it; it lacks the false luster of fall semester, especially for those of us old enough to remember what teaching college was like a generation of students ago, when the beginning of fall semesters did hold real promise.

    Yes, I'm jaded. I do really like this poem.

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  2. Oh Greta!!

    Praise from you
    Is much appreciated.

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  3. What a lovely way to begin my day! Thank you.

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  4. See? This is why parents and students who visit CM are appalled. The moderators should close it down immediately.

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    Replies
    1. Professor Tingle, I hope you understood my reference to a recent troll. Actually, I thought your poem is beautiful. Thank you for it.

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  5. Is it any wonder Dick and Yaro come from the same generation? Please forgive me if this comes out wrong, but most of my undergrad proffies were like this. I felt a level of warmth from them that made all the challenges of what I had to work on worthwhile and freighted with real meaning.

    I would like a bit of whatever it is they have.

    Thanks for the lovely piece, Dr. Tingle.

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