This was published by the University of Chicago Alumni Magazine in 1978 or 1979. As far as I know, it remains the last poem they published. It may be maudlin, but it captures how I felt.
Forever a Freshman
Oh let me stay forever new,
Forever fresh and just-began,
Forever sapling never grew,
Forever stripling, never man;
Embracing still the stumbling love
Of tyro's curiosity,
Not chasing yet the graces of
The specialist's pomposity;
Forever awed, enthralled, enfired,
Ever snagged but never mired,
Ever thirsting, never sated,
Eager to be educated,
Trusting in professors' pearls,
Lusting for the Good, the girls,
Certain of my every creed,
Shedding each the more I read,
Aimless toward some higher rung,
Shameless of my unheld tongue,
Stealing time I'm loath to borrow,
Never thinking past tomorrow,
Reveling without remorse,
Discussing Plato till I'm hoarse--
Oh Time! Return that golden year
Of fledgling fun and novice cheer;
Unclothe me as I stood before,
To live a freshman, evermore!
©1978 Paul Franklin Stregevsky
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