Dutch Quad Contact High
it was a typical institutional, newyorkstate constitutional feedlot
thousands of hungry undergraduate scholars
queued up for a ration of meatloaf macaroniandcheese
vegetable medley iceberg wedge and beverage
facsimile cows silently mooed
at each corner of the cavernous room
plastic udders and rubber teats
dispensing an endless stream of
white or chocolate as you please.
sine waves of conversation
clanks of cutlery bouncing off
the improbable three-story ceiling
this modern edifice named for dour europeans
of this capitaldistrictempirestate
stuyvesant, van rensselaer, ten eyck, ryckman.
tables for ten dinner discourse midterm finals
papers cumulativegradepointaverag
e
biology sociology geology slur into
multisyllabic psychobabble
longhairs, straights, potheads, queers, nerds,
slideruling tyrants pocket protection from
prom queen chi sigma theta beta zeta
i am alpha to your omega
gimme shelter gimme love love love
scholarship rockefellership statesmanship
burn yer bra burn yer draft card
vietnam womens lib make love not war
talk with your intellect full
suppression repression succession
separate permutate mutate permeate
we converse the obverse
nutritious superstitious delicious
eating marx no, i kant.
through the cacophony of pretension
and banality occasional wisdom
a sea of jeans flannel shirts
combat boots tiedyed soul,
something is different the barometer rises
the oscilloscope flattens.
the sea parts.
i spot the two of them
first the iconic bearded one
o holy one o irreverent one
invited to give this evening’s howl
leads with his tray, headed for a drink station
choosing a pitcher of warm juice
over the fake giant teat.
he looks like the mensch i’ve seen on book covers
but almost could be one of the
hipper professors trying to
wear him like a latter-day tweed.
but following him in a wake of
admiration radiating love
anachronistic atavistic asynchronistic
his companion, a seer
garbed in long embroidered robe
braid down his back and i’m close enough
to catch a whiff of sandalwood
the soft tinkle of his temple bells
and a once-in-a-lifetime contact high.
