Alumnus

Were the palms taller,

Or was it just my imagination?

The storm struck in the evening

Outside the College canteen.

Joan Baez replaced by Norah Jones,

The Pepsi dispenser has Dylan undertones.

We were wet as crows,

The wind moaned in our salted hair.

We saw lines etched,

In the reflecting glass of the notice board.

The formaldehyde has evaporated,

Marxism-Leninism will disintegrate.

My skullcap is all awry,

How will I find reason in the Kabbalah?

From mother to son the Talmud says,

But my father is the tropical storm.

Outside the College gate,

Half-price Ibsen is soaking wet.

The portico steps are still lashed by fire,

I will not let the storm make me digress.