O College

A poem I wrote when I graduated.

O college,
How much I’ve learned,
How little I’ve been taught!
Inside your seashell imprint walls
Of building blocks compressed from time when ancient monsters roamed the Earth.
I’ve shed my skin not once, not twice in you
and now believe no monster, ancient or still young,
to have the strength to pierce it,
Yet again.

Whatever grievances may be between us
I acknowledge at this parting time.
The efforts made to shape and mold and educate me into the right form
I did resist,
And yet as I emerge from you, I bear an imprint of your shape.