Foreclosure

I awoke to a loud cold knock at the door.
I had no idea what they were here for.
Hasty and stern, they wanted their money.
I said, "There's no mortgage." They said, "Don't be funny.
Not your home– your brain. Pay for your education!"
I said, "I still am! I'm paying! Be patient!"
They said "It's too late. This is a foreclosure,"
and they opened my brain, commencing the torture.
With scalpels and forceps they started to sort.
I begged them to leave what I'd learned in the dorms
but they took it all– all I'd learned in college.
They scraped out the street smarts and took the book knowledge.
I forgot where I'd traveled, I lost what I'd read,
plus all the connections I'd made in my head.
It was gone, just like that. Those four years of studies
and time spent debating with my college buddies.
Then they closed up my brain. I had nothing to say.
They said with a smile, "Now you don't have to pay!"
Then I really awoke. Twas a dream. It was night.
Tried to go back to sleep, filled with freedom and fright.