Looking Back, Nostalgically Poem by ivor or ivor.e hogg

The dreaming spires of Oxford lie
beneath an ever changing sky
A place where students aspire to
the earning of a sporting blue.

Or concentrate their energy
towards a double first degree
Some will succeed and make their mark.
To others just a youthful lark

An honoured university
which has been here for centuries
The town and gown oft disagree
they co exist uneasily

The students come from far and wide
to study by this riverside.
They stay here temporarily.
Then they must move on hopefully.

They leave the dreaming spires behind
as they strike out and try to find.
Some way to make their dreams come true
Some will succeed the elite few
.
On leaving university
you have to face reality.
The dreaming spires reluctantly
must be consigned to memory.

There is so much they need to learn.
As everybody must in turn,
success does not come easily.
Degrees provide no guarantee.

Now is the time when you must show
How much or little that you know.
Demonstrate your ability
and your adaptability..

Convince employers that you can
Do just as well as any man.
Although you lack experience
you have expressed a preference

by choosing them to apply to.
You like the kind of work they do.
If you survive the interview
and they decide to employ you.

Your years at university
As you will very quickly see
have not prepared you to compete.
Your dancing to a different beat.

You have signed on to the Rat race.
The city is a different place
From Oxford and its dreaming spires
where scholars pursue their desires.

All that counts here is success
you have work hard to progress.
Life here is lived by different rules
the city has no time for fools.

You must produce results it seems
If you want to fulfil your dreams.
Although in truth you’d rather be
back at your university.

The dreaming spires of Oxford lie
beneath an ever changing sky.
They do not change, no reason to.
Unlike the students who must do.

16-Mar-09

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