Wake Up Call
At age thirty-seven I returned to college
after fifteen years away,
ready to finally finish interrupted
bachelors’ degrees from years before.
I worked three jobs,
raised three kids,
attended three campuses,
and often got five hours of sleep or less,
at times getting no sleep at all,
yet still driving the hour to campus
and the hour home again.
Fourteen years after graduation,
I can barely finish the twenty-four hours
of this once a year marathon,
swaying in my seat,
bolting upright to my daughter’s phone alarm,
and micro-napping between eye-blinks.
Loved the poem. The grit you’ve displayed, truly inspiring, and the subtle nuance that as we age, how we hold onto the grit to achieve our dreams. Thank you.
Nice piece. Shows you as you are, and it is very powerful in its empowerment. Also, knowing you, I laughed out loud, as I had also written about a similar aspect of life. Shared experience, if you will.
This may be a first for me, but I’m sharing one of my pieces in a comment. I think you’ll see why this was an immediate LOL for me.
https://thepoetrymarathon.com/blog/marklucker/graduate-level-class/