Laurence Musgrove pens a poem as the new academic year begins.
Did you know the word “normal”
Comes from a carpenter’s square
Which is an artificial depiction
Of the imagined concept we use
To apply a theory of angles upon
Landscapes, materials, and people
We want to own and command?
So, when I get a series of emails
About student accommodations,
And a paper from a woman who
Volunteers her ADHD as reason
For her lousy object permanence
And time management abilities,
I think, this isn’t any “New Normal.”
There’s nothing to square this with,
Except the oldest curriculum we have:
The ready heart and the open mind.
Bio
Laurence Musgrove is professor of English at Angelo State University. His latest poetry collection is The Bluebonnet Sutras from Lamar University Literary Press.
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