A Poem of PAW

In honor of the collection of light verse by Melissa Balmain ’87 (see page 34), PAW invites light-verse contributions about Princeton topics. Some will appear in our September issue. And since we could not ask alumni to take a leap we would not take ourselves, we offer this editor’s note in verse, dedicated to all those new alumni who have just become subscribers to PAW:

You have marched in your first Reunions with your first Reunions beer
After processing through FitzRandolph Gate, toward the unknown and unclear,

To jobs in New York and Silicon Valley with great pay and huge perks.
Or perhaps not so good. It’s tough out there; be glad that you have work.

There will be many days, we know, when you’ll miss the Orange Bubble
After nights without sleep, your face lined or full of stubble

When you plop on the sofa and bemoan the bare fridge ...
Yes, your heart will ache for college. Just a twinge. A smidge.

Take heart! Like Annual Giving, PAW will find you,
And remind you.

Your class secretary may beg you to submit a class note.
Anything will do — a spouse, a house, a new cause to promote.

Reading this online? You’ll soon get PAW 14 times each year.
(We admit that this schedule might prompt a slight sneer.)

What kind of magazine is this? you inquire, not meekly.
You are correct. Despite our name, PAW’s not a weekly.

Think you can do better? Send your verse — on any topic related to Princeton — to paw@princeton.edu or 194 Nassau St., Suite 38, Princeton, N.J. 08542.