I feel like I have lost myself
somewhere along the stream
of days
of frantic surviving
swimming furiously against the waves
keeping my head above the water-
only just.

I feel like I have lost my glow
my joy
my constant smile
somewhere
in these waters
somewhere among the
heaps of papers and towers of worries.
What is the price of education?
Will I,
ten years from now,
still be paying student loans
and buying back my soul?