Some Final (Silly) Words

This poem was emailed to all the students in W4400 Dynamics of Climate Variability and Climate Change in the fall of 2007 during a particularly frustrating late night of pre-exam study.

To all my friends who with me share
The burden of this final act
I call you now, to come, to dare
And through this haze, this frosty air
To Schermerhorn to face the fact

That we are now but halfway done
Of this course, though more work still
There is to do, we must have fun
Beneath this forcing from the sun
And through the biting winter chill

But we are burdened with the mission
To solve the problems of this world
Oh! so young, with such ambition
But first we need a li’l revision
To know the direction Coriolis swirled

Back to your books! The chant will grow
To learn of words like “thermocline”
To understand the Ekman Flow
And watch the negative feedback slow
And lorentz attractors intertwine

So read about your land-sea breezes
And don’t forget the oscillation
Stay safe, stay warm, bless those sneezes
But keep in mind, those glacial freezes
…and thermohaline circulation

Once more unto the breach we go!
The big exam, our final test
come rain, hail, shine… or snow
I hope this verse will make you know
That you will give it your very best