Conversation with my Teenage Self

I need to find a girl who reads.

But girls round here don’t read, old boy.

They’re far too busy watering seeds

and ploughing along in a tractor.

Then university’s the place!

For thought, discovery and joy!

The student girl’s an empty space.

The only boys who attract her

are slogan-dribbling ideologues.

Modern graduates don’t think,

they’re nothing more than well-greased cogs

that grind to a government quota.

What stretches as far as your eyes can scan

is a desert without a drop to drink.

Where does this desert end, old man?

Well, it ends at the River Oder.