Dreaming Spires

I am poor, down to earth
and tough as old boots.
Though unrefined, I'm proud
of my working class roots.
I am aware I lack education
but know what it is to aspire
to greater enlightenment.
Matthew Arnold called Oxford
the city with dreaming spires
and that is a place I admire
with rapt wonderment.
However impossible it may seem,
to reside in the hallowed halls
of this old university town
and join the academic world
to realise the ambition
of gaining extra erudition,
is a highly implausible
but unshakeable dream.  

© Luigi Pagano 2018