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educated poverty
by Lauren Singeri am scared tonight.
there is a piece of paper
on my kitchen table,
tells me that i'm a grown up
starting today.
that i have sixty-eight thousand dollars
of money to pay to the state.
i can't even fathom the amount of it.
the sum of one dollar bills i'll be spitting
into bank accounts only to be depleted
by my education.
today, we have to pay
to tell people that we're smart.
this piece of paper proves it.
it's telling me i did my job
and they acknowledged it
but now it's time to give back.
there's always a catch.
you always have to
give back.
buying cheaper cigarettes.
hiding money all over my room
little envelopes.
one for the rent,
the electric,
the phone line.
eating peanut butter and jelly
three straight days
in a row.
dumpster-dived bread,
broken muffins.
landfills of sugary crumbs,
devoured.
condiments become courses.
i feel my ribcage.
my mother calls me crying,
she just can't help me.
the dishes are piling,
work cut my hours.
i look at my degree, laugh.
i push around sweat for a living.
i'm calling all the right people,
throwing around resumes.
they all ask for messages,
they'll all call me back.
mostly,
they don't.
others have waiting lists.
waitress,
housekeeper,
retail.
artist,
tutor,
free-lance writer.
i'm qualified.
don't i get a scarlet letter?
today,
we're using paper towels
for toilet paper,
and i'm wiping crumbs from the side of the sink.
the electric bill hangs on the fridge, impatient.
i'm wrapping my head around my impossibilities.
fantasizing about crisp bills and easy sailing.
i blow the hair away from my forehead
and smoothe the curtains in the window.
sixty-eight thousand dollars burns into the table,
and i'm thinking
maybe tomorrow i'll be rich.
06/28/2007 Posted on 06/28/2007
Copyright © 2024 Lauren Singer
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Jeffrey Parren on 06/28/07 at 05:13 AM i really enjoy the flow of this and its utter honesty. a lot of us endure what you are going through in many different versions. debt will always follow, seemingly. ~JPP |
| Posted by Timothy Somers on 06/28/07 at 10:29 PM My dream is to die owing 7.3 million dollars for someone else to figure out.
Vivid & descriptive, but you left out the creaks in the floor. Plath would be envious. Thanks for the read. |
| Posted by Ken Harnisch on 07/05/07 at 12:22 PM well said...well spun..if your talent at writing is as a good as it's been exhibited here, Lauren, that 68,000 will be well spent.. |
| Posted by Rowan Luis on 07/05/07 at 03:25 PM I can't tell you how apt this is right now. I may even write my own version. If I do I'll come tell you. Hope you get to eat some good food soon my dear
x |
| Posted by JD Clay on 07/05/07 at 04:11 PM This is a wonderful, emotion packed Poem Of The Day that cuts to the quick, Lauren. Unfortunately a college education doesn’t necessarily prepare you for the real world. Congratulations! And welcome to the school of hard knocks. |
| Posted by Charles E Minshall on 07/05/07 at 05:46 PM Congratulations on poem of the day Lauren....Charlie |
| Posted by Sandy M. Humphrey on 07/05/07 at 08:06 PM This poem has my son written all over it. After years and years of education will there be a job once he has finished his PHD or will he too be looking at a bill burning a hole in the table while children wait to be fed....Excellent writing about the state of the college student in today's flooded job market. smh |
| Posted by Kyle Anne Kish on 07/05/07 at 09:29 PM Lauren, sadly is the way of education. Where are these wonderful jobs we get because we are educated? The tone of this poem captures the whole essence of that little piece of paper that says "you're an adult" now very well. Congratulations on your POTD. Well deserved. |
| Posted by Ashley Lane on 07/05/07 at 10:00 PM I graduated college a year ago and damn does this strike a nerve. You just got to do the best you can, and try not to think about any future grad school student loans. ::shudders::. Congrats on POTD! |
| Posted by Christina Bruno on 07/05/07 at 10:38 PM i couldn't agree more, nice write |
| Posted by David Hill on 07/06/07 at 01:50 AM I am a geezer, now. I think it took about $10,000 to put me through Slippery Rock State College. As the great Bob Dylan has sung over and over inside my semi-educated noggin over the years, “Twenty years of schoolin’ and they put ya on the day shift…”
Your poem hits the nail on the head.
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