A Poem About Grad School & Christmas

I've been feeling a bit discouraged lately because - unlike everyone I follow on Facebook and Instagram - my house is not decorated for Christmas. It's kind of the opposite of decorated at all, unless you count piles of textbooks and dirty laundry. So I wrote this little poem to make myself feel better.

Twas two weeks before Christmas and all through the house

every creature was stirring, each clicking their mouse

The textbooks were piled by the desk without care

For exams were looming - two weeks! What a scare.

The cat was confused, as she looked at the bed -

It was empty! At midnight! She cocked her head,

Her people weren't sleeping, but working this hour

So she cuddled up alone, her face a bit dour.

No stockings were hung, no tree decorated

We began to wonder if Christmas would even be celebrated

There are papers to be written! And books that won't end,

Problems to solve and projects to which we must tend.

The Thanksgiving suitcases are still filled to the brim,

And heaven forbid we ever get to the gym

The laundry is scattered, perhaps with a decorative flair

And what's that I spy? Last night's dinner spilled on that chair?

Our house is not festive, our bed is unkempt

Facebook images of holiday perfection fill me with contempt.

Our table has no candles, no wreaths and no holly

For us grad students, you see, these weeks are not jolly

I survey the damage on a break from my screen

This paper won't write itself, but this house isn't clean

We're out of fresh socks, and coffee mugs too

It's that time of year! Merry Christmas to who?

Then arose from beside me, a tired MBA

With glazed over eyes, as he began to stray

Away from his desk, from his work, from the pain

I could see in his face there was not much left of his brain

I felt myself falter - if one falls, the other alone can't go on

It was time to brew some more coffee, and fight on till dawn

And over the whir of the beans in the grinder,

I could hear him whisper this little reminder -

"On finance! On strategy! On leadership and more!

Just a couple more weeks and I'll be through with this chore!"

"There will be celebration and joy and perhaps what's best?

Oh right - Christmas break - we get three weeks of rest!"