When I asked why
they told me: this
is a large research university.
When I moved in
I noticed that
every girl I saw wearing a black and
gold Iowa shirt
looked exactly the same as
the one before.
When I asked why
they told me: this
is a large research university.
I also heard
that even though
the cafeteria runs out of milk
every five minutes
the football players have a
yogurt bar.
When I asked why
they told me: this
is a large research university.
All my TAs
in every class
has unintelligble accents and
although I can speak
English better
than they do
they're getting paid.
When I asked why
they told me: this
is a large research university.
Then recently
I went to see
a small private college where everyone
knew each other and
was already sick of them
after three years.
WhenI came home
I thanked the Lord
for this large research university.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I think this was the first poem I wrote that didn't rhyme. Daring of me, huh? I started playing with meter, and then just the numbers of syllables, regardless of accent. At the time I was a freshman and I was dating a guy who went to Grinnell, a very small liberal arts school nearby. I performed this at No Shame too, where they appreciated the local humor.
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