(published in in the June 2026 issue of Fresh Words-An International Literary Magazine)
(My first semester in college)
September, nineteen seventy two
A coming of age for me, that’s true
First time on campus, the academic world
A new chapter in life and OMG, girls
I’d never been popular with the opposite sex
Lost in my books, inferiority complex
And there they were, beautiful to see,
Though none of them ever noticed me
But in chemistry lab, I was temporarily cool
Cuz I could do math, using a slide rule
They all came to see me as I supplied
An ability to easily multiply and divide
Sadly, after one term, I totally flamed out
When the very first calculators came out
My glory was over, once again just a square
Who’d supplied girls with numbers, but never got theirs
