There were disappointed faces
on the students in the quad
The professor’s classes cancelled-
illness had struck their mortal god.
A literary lion, A scholar
world renowned.
Pneumonia, favoring old men,
was the disease that took him down.
The Professor got the best of care
and had a private room.
His favorites brought him roses
to brighten up the gloom.
He was in an out of consciousness,
oblivious to fading blooms.
His true friends
were dead poets
and he imagined them about:
Blake, with his wild head of hair;
Bill Shakespeare’s pate without,
Byron, dripping from the Hellespont,
and Dylan Thomas chugging stout.
His breath was shallow, rasping
His heart would skip a beat
His mind would wander mercifully
back to when the past was sweet.
He recalled playing the Wolf
with a beauty named Naomi.
Had she ever thought him handsome?
Had he come across as phony?
The monitor went flat line then
They would save him, never fear.
Naomi's accusations were still
ringing in his ears.
Jan 2, 2012
Jan 2, 2012 at 8:23 PM UTC
There were disappointed faces
on the students in the quad
The professor’s classes cancelled-
illness had struck their mortal god.
A literary lion, A scholar
world renowned.
Pneumonia, favoring old men,
was the disease that took him down.
The Professor got the best of care
and had a private room.
His favorites brought him roses
to brighten up the gloom.
He was in an out of consciousness,
oblivious to fading blooms.
His true friends
were dead poets
and he imagined them about:
Blake, with his wild head of hair;
Bill Shakespeare’s pate without,
Byron, dripping from the Hellespont,
and Dylan Thomas chugging stout.
His breath was shallow, rasping
His heart would skip a beat
His mind would wander mercifully
back to when the past was sweet.
He recalled playing the Wolf
with a beauty named Naomi.
Had she ever thought him handsome?
Had he come across as phony?
The monitor went flat line then
They would save him, never fear.
Naomi's accusations were still
ringing in his ears.
This is a fantasy piece about an aging College professor, a female student whose life he touched, and serious bout of illness. It is not based on fact and no living professors were harmed in the making of the poem. It is more of a " what if" type of poem.
Request permission to use this poem