Thanks to Mom and Dad and Doctor Victor Aberdeen.

Thanks to Liberal Arts and Science. To My Post Grad Dean.

Thanks for my diploma, which attests my worldly deeds.

And to the path toward work/success, where college surely leads.

And what, I’m asked, do I intend to do now with my life?

Enmesh myself in fighting for diminishment of strife

Among the nation’s cities, where her teaming peoples war?

Do I intend, within the field, of politics to score?

Of shall I enter a career of medical prowess

With blades, syringe, and pinking shears, displaying my finesse

Within the bloody caverns of some victim’s inner side,

Shall I, by chopping tumors out, attain professional pride?

Or shall I be a blazing-fierce-devoted-journalist,

Engaging with my enemies in peril-packaged tryst?

Attacking one and everyone whose honesty I doubt,

My pen would vanquish all my foes, with just one inky clout.

I could, I’m told, climb up the shiny ladder of duress

By teaching schools and thus some mini-monsters’ minds impress

With “Burn the flag” and “Kill them…from the river to the sea.”

Indulging mindless violence in the name of “liberty.”

I can, I could, and possibly, I even might succeed

In word, in thought, in dollar gain, at any chosen deed.

I might, indeed, teach, heal, or preach, or even social work.

If only if, and God forbid…I longed to go berserk!

Not for me, so soon, the advent of these new careers.

I have to study, at the least, a decade more in years.

There are some more degrees I’d like to add on to my list,

And many more curricula whose knowledge I have missed.

At first, there’s not a book I own that I don’t want to read.

I bought them used (most classics), and I have an urgent need

To gobble up their passions, plots, their attitudes and views,

To revel in the authors’ use of words in subtle hues.

I want to work in retail, too, and market many things,

Like “shoes and ships and sealing-wax…and cabbages and kings.”

And drive a taxi cab…a bus, a rowboat or a plane.

To travel where I ought to go, and sail the bounding main.

I’d like to dig for ancient bones and find a dinosaur,

And climb the highest building to its tippy-topmost floor.

I’d like to paint a house from scratch … the shutters, doors, and trim.

Then when I’m done, I’d like to hang the wallpaper within.

I’d like to learn to waltz and visit San Diego’s Zoo.

To star upon a Broadway stage, and earn an Oscar, too.

To swim the English Channel also would be on my list.

And by a handsome Navy Seal, to ardently be kissed!

And after I have granted to myself these last degrees,

Selecting my profession will, it’s likely, be a breeze.

In fact, I’m rather certain of what area I shall enter.

And as Adventuress, I’ll get my M.A. in Adventure!

Copyright © Shelly Reuben, 2025. Shelly Reuben’s books have been nominated for Edgar, Prometheus, and Falcon awards. For more about her writing, vibasit www.shellyreuben.com