The President’s Blog

Picnic Video

The International Student picnic was a great success. Many thanks to the Rotary Club of Knoxville for their continued support of this event. The students played lots of volleyball, many went kayaking and canoeing, and everyone ate a lot. An excellent turnout of students, faculty, staff, and Rotarians.

The painting of our former dog Ollie is by faculty member Gay Bryant. Ollie lived 18 years with us and it was a difficult relationship at times. As one guest told me after Ollie had herded up all the children in the backyard into a tight circle, “Ollie barks to a different moon.” Gay captured his intelligent, good side.

I’ve often suspected that Ollie, after we “put him to sleep” inspired Billy Collins to write this poem.

The Revenant by Billy Collins

I am the dog you put to sleep,
as you like to call the needle of oblivion,
come back to tell you this simple thing:
I never liked you–not one bit.

When I licked your face,
I thought of biting off your nose.
When I watched you toweling yourself dry,
I wanted to leap and unman you with a snap.

I resented the way you moved,
your lack of animal grace,
the way you would sit in a chair and eat,
a napkin on your lap, knife in your hand.

I would have run away,
but I was too weak, a trick you taught me
while I was learning to sit and heel,
and–greatest of insults–shake hands without a hand.

I admit the sight of the leash
would excite me
but only because it meant I was about
to smell things you had never touched.

You do not want to believe this,
but I have no reason to lie.
I hated the car, the rubber toys,
disliked your friends and, worse, your relatives.

The jingling of my tags drove me mad.
You always scratched me in the wrong place.
All I ever wanted from you
was food and fresh water in my metal bowls.

While you slept, I watched you breathe
as the moon rose in the sky.
It took all my strength
not to raise my head and howl.

Now I am free of the collar,
the yellow raincoat, monogrammed sweater,
the absurdity of your lawn,
and that is all you need to know about this place

except what you already supposed
and are glad it did not happen sooner–
that everyone here can read and write,
the dogs in poetry, the cats and the others in prose.

Pellissippi State faculty and staff process to the annual President’s Convocation on September 5, 2008. What a treat it was to hear from Associate Professor Sue Yamin as she told of her very personal experiences in Iran. This was a great start to our academic year and we are fortunate to have such great faculty members on our campus. Cut and paste this link to see more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pstcc-ets/s…