Alma Mater - a Poetic Form on a Call from the Dorm

"Somewhere it is written
that parents who are critical
of other people's children
and publicly admit
they can do better
are asking for it."

Erma Bombeck
(1927 - 1996)

My daughter called me after class.
She said she needs a boarding pass.
Four hundred miles away from home,
She thinks she's in the twilight zone.

I'm trying hard to cut the strings,
To help her stretch, to give her wings,
Encouraging her motivation
To go for higher education.

Her profs are stuffy, so she said.
Her roommate's pregnant, though unwed.
The dining hall is filled with bugs,
And her advisor's selling drugs.

"Just wait till Christmas," I reply.
"Give it the good old college try.
It's only four more weeks till then,
Abiding in the lion's den."

"But, Mom, the boys here drink like fish,
And no one likes me, though I wish.
I just can't take another day.
Please, Mom, please! Don't make me stay!"

I found an e-mail from my kid.
"You'll never believe what I just did!"
My little girl, the great protestor,
Lasted through the whole semester!

That was four long years ago,
When everything was touch-and-go.
This spring, she'll graduate, and then,
She'll marry one of those college men.

Someday, her daughter will call and say,
"Mom, I can't take another day."
She'll take a breath and answer sincerely,
"Honey, I loved college dearly."