The year moves on till college ends
April, May, June and springtimes nearly o’er.
It’s time to pack my books again and move.
Pack my books and papers, pencils, pens,
Letters, dishes, bedding—and even stow away my clock.
All these things I own and want to keep.
Then comes those last two days
Through which I walk so lonely,
Tests are done and friends have left,
But I must stay an extra day.
I feel a lump within my throat,
Homesick for college life and college friends.
College life, where people learn of life
And what it means,
They come to understand its nature—
What is best and what is worst.
Freshman though I be, I love it, and all it holds.
However, I must leave it now and move.
Back to the city I go—to find a job.
To get back into that fast lane from whence I came.
To earn more money,
That I may come to school another year.
But now, back to the city, back to the roar of traffic,
The sing of tires;
Back to tall buildings, high church spires,
To slums, pawn shops, busy markets.
I lived with my brother,
In a section of moderate means.
In one room, that was our whole abode.
I had to find a job.
But I didn’t mind,
Here was my hope for future life,
A chance to earn,
To make a chance to go to school another year,
A chance for life.
I loved life, and smiled with each new day
I was happy, moving time had passed.
(1941)