Academic

I am 22 a Senior in college
Living with my wife and infant
Son and my wife’s two sons I am
Adopting though they already call me
Dad all in a two-bedroom old
Army barracks now the married
Students housing unit down by
The Colorado River and I am
An academic assistant not
Yet ready until next year
To be teaching my own
Class in cartography,
I am a grader of my
Professor’s exams
And no longer a
Library worker.
My wife works
As a secretary
At UT Austin
And we are
Not in debt
Though
We are
Poor,
Our combined
Salaries are helped
By a check from my Dad
Each month for $25 which
Allows us to make ends meet
Though we almost never eat out
And our entertainment is for our
Family in free UT movies, swimming,
Picnics, and watching TV together,
Eating popcorn, drinking icy soft
Drinks, sitting on the porch
Steps, reading books,
Kids playing in the
Common areas
With kids from
Around the
World all
Poor in
The
Same boat,
We are a tight
Community academic
In our inclinations all
Struggling to stay
In school all of us
Aware our only
Way out of
Poverty is
Education
And so we either
Live on parent’s help
Or we become an
Academic and
Teach others,
We are on
The whole
Happy despite
The poverty and
Pressure, we are couples
In love often with children
Living month to month
Cooking our evening
Meals as dark calls
In kids from play.
Windows bright
Summer or
Winter we
Enjoy our
Lives in
Academia,
The Viet Nam
War far away.