I took the season change as a metaphor for a life change, moving from an academic environment which has winter's order and structure to a more chaotic springtime where the unknowns abound and we're just getting by.

Sink or Swim
Eric Novak

I went away to the academy
The air was chill, the time was fall, I was seventeen
genteel civilization's last redoubt
a place and time to prove myself out

They stay their lanes in the academy
They measure up, they nail it down, see who gets to stay
A hall full of doctors talking over each other
Slowly getting over the bother, publish or perish, sink or swim
publish or perish, sink or swim

Sink or swim or swim or sink, etc.

The water draws back, the muds a mess
I stay close to the shore as I navigate this
My body aches, it aches with laughter and with shame
Each spring comes sooner and sooner, yet again
Each spring sooner again

It's touch and go, I know, but it's a silver touch
We gathered berries today from the underbrush
The sun beats down and strikes me stupid
The last blur is Cupid, love or hate, laughter and panic, swim or sink

Sink or swim or swim or sink etc.