It’s what history relegates
to the insignificant times
and places and experiences
that live on and matter —
those temporary times,
fleeting and soon forgotten
except for those who sat in
class and who for them it
might just as well have been
Harvard, Chicago, Yale or
Princeton, only to be remind-
ed they were in a junior coll-
ege, what they now call com-
munity colleges, in a south
suburb of the city of Chicago.
They were so excited about
Shakespeare and Beowulf;
they were certain they were
Ivy league; after all they wore
khaki slacks and loafers with-
out socks and Pendleton plaids,
so they were Ivy League and
once in a while, when they
were feeling a little insecure
about that, they would hang
out around 57th and Hyde
Park coffee houses, and now,
in their heady heart of hearts,
they know they were so
much more.