mhall46184@aol.com
The Last Day - And Now, Unemployment
Not much longer now before we and Keats
Must pack up all our impedimenta
Into a photocopier paper box
And after a Wal-Mart-cake reception – leave
No one will notice us, and that’s okay
Thomas and Frost will meet us with the car
Greene will suggest that we go for a drink
The designated driver might be Shakespeare
With Fermor beside him reading the map
Guareschi and Wodehouse laughing in the back
Lewis and Chesterton will bring the beer
And Leonard Cohen will adjust his hat
In God’s name we will sit under the apple trees
And tell merry tales of the lives of kings
And whether we shall meet again I know not.
Therefore our everlasting farewell take:
For ever, and for ever, farewell…
If we do meet again, why, we shall smile;
If not, why, then, this parting was well made.
-Julius Caesar V.1.115-119
After a year of rumors and contradictory bits of information, the once-busy satellite campus of my community college surrendered the buildings today.
A commitment among several institutions requires me to haunt the mostly empty halls (like Marley's Ghost) for the spring to finish teaching classes, but for the staff, a casual dismissal into unemployment now.
The Psalmist tells us not to put our trust in princes; I would add "...or in elected bodies."
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