Concerning Homecoming and Poetry

      What a crazy, random happenstance!  You've stumbled upon my life!

UWEC Players Frying Pan

 Unfortunately, you're not the only one stumbling around today.  The good people of UWEC are drunk on sidewalks, on porches, on roofs, and even wait for it... in cars!  Yes, friends, beware.  The parade has finished and the pre-gaming has begun.  The party buses are queuing up.  Girls are wearing matching T-shirts with stupid sayings on them (appropriately slashed up.)  Boys are wearing sunglasses and boxers.  The occasional hipster wannabe sings songs out of tune.  All this before 1:00 in the afternoon.  

So here I am - curled up on the couch with a mug of Irish Breakfast Tea reading my classmates' attempts at Italian Sonnets.  Here are some of my favorite lines:  "Dating a Backstreet Boy is but a dream."  "With arms too short to reach her toy, Pam fell in the pool."  "The breath I gather remains in my chest."  Really.  Out of context they sound ridiculous of course (but sadly - context doesn't help much.)  Now, I don't mean to be mean, but really?  I mean, really.  Some of the poems are rather good.  No one has even close to the mastery of language that Shakespeare had, but some of the poems were fine.  Such a restricting form is hard for people who consider themselves prose writers.  But let me tell you that after three years of writing courses with these folks.  Well, let's just say "good" is a matter of perspective.  

"Good" is the script I'm trying to memorize for class.  "Good" is learning how to choke to death (strangled by a phone cord) on stage without actually getting hurt.  "Good" is knowing how to scan Shakespeare and spout out Sonnets with proper unstressed and stressed syllables.  "Good" is sunshine and toes free from socks.

It's also not dying during this weekend of craziness.  It's saying, "Sorry, I don't drink.  I'll be twenty one in a month though."  It's saying, "Be safe!" to your roommates as they head out into the night.  "Good" is being good.  (Woah - that just reminded me of Good Dog Carl!  What a great life!)

       So Happy Homecoming, everybody!  Here's where I toast with my tea.  Cheers!

He looks a little like my Stanley Boy!