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yale verse harvard

shall we

join the student section,

or the family at the top row

taking a stroll around the

yale bowl?

i'm sure those kids feel like

they are on top of the world,

and the boys on the field feel like

they are the center of it.

today, they are.

magnets for wealthy alumni

and the merely interested,

attracting the sort of people

who talk about "endowments"

in reference to dollar amounts.

it bothers me

that some people

don't understand:

it's yale

"versus"

harvard,

not yale

"verse"

harvard.

these top-ten-percenters

should know better,

the five-percenters

aren't invited here,

and the three-percenters

only attend s.e.c. games.

three-quarters full

two quarters in,

the same metro north we arrived in

delivers new york city to

new haven's promised land,

only two days ago i heard

a girl planning her outfit for today

at the end of my block.

she said:

"i'll see you at the game!"

and i did not see her today,

or i did see her today, many times over,

in the similar bright eyes and

clean faces of pretty, rich, northeasterners.

the tall ginger boy found his yale merch

on the walk to the stadium

the boy with the flat top bought his

yale hoodie years ago but attends n.y.u.

which are the real students,

which are the true alumni,

and who here is keeping score?

the little kids at the top of the stadium

are more exciting to watch than the

meddling between television timeouts,

and the score reads twenty-something

to thirty-something.

a girl with hair of a perfect sheen

climbs back and forth

the social strata, up and down

the yale bowl, a grand smile

for every picture, a blanket

wrapped around her torso,

and no mind to pay for football.

i thought her stand climbing

was a symptom of other hopes for

social ascension, but this group

she's with only makes her feel like

the prettiest girl in the group:

not popular.

a boy with a bowl-like stomach

stands with his sleeveless shirt

just over his chest, shouting and smiling.

he once catches my eye,

i give him a thumbs up,

knowing that the loudest in the room

is the one who most needs to feel heard.

the sun rose in the east

and set in the early afternoon.

a dark and cold student section

watched warm crimson spill

onto the field, glowing from victory,

evening sun, and many bachelor and

graduate degrees of smugness.