George Doyle: Ode (Owed?) to the Retiree

Some teachers once taught
For a full thirty years.
They looked forward to retirement
And were grinning ear to ear.

They went down to Columbus
And filled in the blank
Which promptly sent their
Checks to the bank.
Then came the section on health care, you see.
You won’t have to worry, we’ll cover the fees.

They returned to their homes, and one got ill.
He sent in the prescription, but couldn’t get the pill.
They argued you didn’t send in the right form,
And now you must wait until our policy is reformed.

The teacher then argued you promised me much,
But now I must choose between medicine and such?
I think you should keep your agreement with me,
For I have always been honest with you, don’t you see?

I taught thirty years with conditions a mess, and
I faithfully paid my dues to STRS.
And now that I need my benefits more,
I find when I checked no one was minding the store.
They spent like a spendthrift for things not needed
And now the health care fund is nearly depleted.

We argued and argued until our throats were sore,
But STRS wouldn’t listen so we had to form CORE.
OEA called us names and refused to give in,
So we ran two candidates that we knew could win.
We launched a campaign and got them elected
And the OEA boys were promptly ejected.

Now that they’ve seen that we don’t stand alone,
We’ll eventually win because of
Lazarus and Leone.