Hazing
Preps
by
Noel
Sloboda
In dark of night we commit our crime,
sneaking into the rooms of new boys
weary from classes, unaware of ploys
to impress upon them lessons sublime.
To journey from childhood into their prime,
they must first abandon innocent joys
which adulthood naturally destroys.
No more restful ease for them come bedtime.
In tight ranks we pile on each prep’s bed;
springs snap and feet buckle, until a crash
brings a mass of young flesh straight to the floor.
The freshmen cry, draw closer to the dead,
as their rudely awakened bodies thrash
under the sleepless boys fallen before.
©
2007 by
Noel Sloboda
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About the Author
Noel
Sloboda,
originally from New England, currently teaches at Penn
State York and serves as dramaturg for the Harrisburg
Shakespeare Festival. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming
in a number of places, including Hazmat Review, Studies
in the Humanities, FRiGG, Triptych Haiku, The Cape Rock,
Academic Exchange Extra, Waterways, and Ghoti.
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