| Familiar Scripts
November 4, 2019
The stage has been set across all states,
A flurry of follies voiced by fools
In this theater of the absurd.
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Action has fallen in the hills of Mississippi,
The hallowed halls Faulkner once walked,
A system dysfunctional as any Sutpen,
Compson or Snopes.
A chorus of citizenry horrified that their IHL
Chose the consultant over the field.
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The mess in Michigan comes amidst
Trustee on Trustee crime,
Of complaints lobbed, lawsuits lodged
Such that even a tuition pledge
Has taken on the ugly edge
Of politics and our regular theatrics.
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Or, take 75 down to Ohio,
To the nexus of the catharsis,
With different pledges and a haze of alcohol,
A bacchanal of the institution's priorities,
IFC serving as foil for the leads
Trying to resolve their acts.
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Make a mass migration to Massachusetts
To the finest ivory tower in the Ivy,
A slip of the tongue from the head of the ship,
The president's point of attack,
A figure of speech to disfigure the reach
Of a donor's determined endowment.
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Toss Rice into the mix as Texas is picked
On this cross-country repertory.
The sex had no consent,
The powers had no sense,
To allow the accuser to be informed
While her assailant sashayed across the stage.
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Head from Illinois northwest to Alaska,
Legislators lower down,
The deus ex machina,
Impatient and impudent to the Senate,
The Emperor, the scribes,
All huddled in the aisle lights off to the side.
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Be it Missouri or Maryland or Penn
State an ugly truth.
If the play starts to get away from you,
If the koros becomes too much,
Leave the apron, shuffle off the stage,
Dimmed lights foreshadow the room.
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The chariot always stops for thee,
Pathos and hubris crowding ethos,
The horses' heads screaming eternally.
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