May 23, 2023

As Inside Higher Ed presents yet another article about the enrollment challenges in higher education, this time specifically for community colleges, I can't help falling back on something I love and know well, and something I haven't done since I was about 7, and really don't know much about. I'll leave it to others to discern which is which.

A Sonnet About Fishing

When fish aren't biting, haven't for years,

Don't haul your boat to the same spot of old.

Wisdom dictates spots far away from there

Where you've ne'er angled, trawled or trolled?

Be forewarned, everyone's got a lure,

A hook, a reel, a bucket of fresh bait.

Thousands of fishermen feel insecure

About catches futile to calculate.

The big schools are yielded through massive nets,

Branded logos press like thumbs on the scales;

They once eyed us, never broke a sweat,

Now take bottom dwellers to boost their sales.

No sweet spots exist with shore-to-shore skiffs

Fishing waters where currents are too swift.