This one is for everyone who will NOT be smugly ‘starting out 2008 debt-free’
(I hate people who can actually say that – don’t you? Oh, it’s a jealousy thing? Really? Fancy that.)
Considering the schizophrenic economy in the U.S. and elsewhere, I imagine that many of you will be able to relate to this piece.
Sim Stafford, meanwhile, is a poet, musical genius, and guru to yours truly (and a great deal of other people as well).
Please look for more of his contributions this year.
– The Editor.
Please, look away! I am a hideous
sight, undeserving of your attention
to my diction. It is insidious
of me to crawl from my hole to mention
how stellar study in the liberal arts
plunged me into an infinite abyss.
Sallie Mae, that witch, has stolen my heart,
Leaving me a beast that no one will kiss.
Her letters are stacked beside that jar by
the door, but I pretend not to know who
they are for (after flinging them they fly
across the universe). Then she calls me to
recollect my promise in various
voices hissing, “We are legion…” Mistress Mae
possesses me—head-spinning, nefarious,
Class-skipping (off record)—but will I obey?
Please hear me out through the song and the dance
I perfected at many a party.
Just one more forbearance—give me a chance!
I swear I’ll work hard instead of hardly.
Eyes glazed over, I look ahead with interest,
Fearing I’ll be left alone with this knowledge.
By default I have chosen indifference,
But still care for that wild daze of college.