I remember when grades were posted
on the wall outside the dean’s office
sometimes typed up, others filled in ink
a bit hard to read, always hard to take
just a letter up by our initials or number
alphabetical order was easy to figure out
we knew how we all did, comparison was
built into it, an easy way to measure us
nothing inflated, nothing debated, roll of
the dice, had to roll with the punches
too often we’d limp away, some shaken, in
the late sixties, we still had ‘Nam going on
grades kept us safe or shook us lose, kept us
around, watching a war, fighting off boredom
grades waited outside the dean’s office, land mines
firefights, we learned the words, fearing our turn.