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Charles and my predawn jog was a sweat-athon and as the sun rose, a heat-dome brightness tattooed crisp shadows in every corner. Any lingering coolness was burned off - evaporated.

It was 94°f, 3 hours later, when I walked to campus - why don’t we use  parasols anymore? Drag on, radiant afternoon heat, please.
That was 100 proof sarcasm, in case you couldn’t tell.

Hot days seem to drag-on slowly, like waiting for a microwave or a droning, liturgy. It wasn’t in the forecast but I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear, “Today’s forecast is slow, really slow.”

Let’s start an Internet theory that the atmosphere is thinning or we’re just ants under a magnifying glass.

The finally setting sun left a blood red line under the falling blue dark, like a **** of wound in the skin of young-night.

Once my nightly obligations are done (classes, homework, reading), the silence can seem oppressive. I’m used to the never ending hustle, boiling drama and noise of seven suitemates - so there’s that.

On now empty nights, I’m tortured by the high-beating pulse of youth, and I pace my empty apartment, like someone restlessly waiting for their venti-mocha-latte at a Starbucks.

Can anyone suffer like a young woman left all alone?
Why, oh whomever, must I sip from this deep, bitter, undrinkably salty sea of solitude?

In this, my prime season, why do I only manage to exist?
My needs are in a shameful state of decay.
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Cruel Summer by Bananarama
Habits (feat. Haley Reinhart) by Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox [E]
All That I Need by Ebony Loren, Matthew Ifield & Sebastian Kamae
BLT Merriam Webster word of the day challenge 06/27/25:
oblige (obligation, noun form) = something required or forced
I have learned the wasting of time
To reap unearthly success
The presence of which, preserves
My Freedom--My Sanity--My Kingdom
How else could I have carried the day
If I had allowed pointless
Repetition of tasks to occupy me
Life is short and vibrant to acquire things
That would soon be forgotten
Or that Time would do away with
However, such employments
Keep one's mind at bay precluding
The occurrence of objectionable acts
Not everyone is educated
In the art of sublimation.

I have learned to stay young
By imprisoning the meanness of mind
Whose flock of motives
Go way beyond the pale
To endow itself the paramountcy it craves
And it keeps on forging ahead
To invent a despot
Till the pawns are made and spirit's dead.

From the forces that send my daily bread
I have learned to speak the truth
And spin accommodating lies
To advance the tendencies of my ideas.

I have learned the meaning of pain
Through feelings that render me down
Through history's pages relating madness
Through actions revealing depths of hate.

I have learned how to dump
Freaks of right-and-wrong
The evolution of poisoned tongue
That plague the psyche to kingdom come.

I have learned how not to ascend ladders
That reach the realm of merciless affairs
Enthroning conceit and ousting empathy.

I have learned to say YES and NO
To invite joy and dispel woe.

My learning process is ongoing still
For valleys are deep and mountains, lofty.
If I just knew
What the hell I'm supposed to do
I would make my world a small garden
Decorated with diverse flowers
Offering me emotional breeze
Inspiring mental bliss
But the roll of dice
Keeps me wandering the maze of Life
Not knowing what to expect
At the next turn or trail
Just moving about the pathway of Fate
With candles of intuitive faith
Hoping for the best
Pondering over the approaching test
Would I fail or would I pass
If I fail should I give up
To spite my lot
If I pass should I go on to face
Another stream of darkness
The ball is not in my court, it never was
Such is the story of my eyes
Blinded by the rays of mysterious laws
By the mask of unrelenting dawns
Every day, every hour, every moment
I'm faced with new beginnings
That cancel out the layout of my winnings
This is the road I must travel
And encounter sporadic marvel
That entices me to stick to the journey
At times I wonder
Is it better to know or to not know
The answer eludes me
Since I cannot change what is running
Through the branches of my leaves
I shall be content
With the ramification of my weaves.
The crack is widening without check
Decaying righteous spaces
Uglifying features of grace  
What force will intervene
For probity's sake.

The black bird caws
Warns of the impending strife
The dove coos on the dome of empire
Lamenting lack of Love's fire
Gnostics rejoice in melody of day
And every fool enjoys the tune of play.

The curtain is coming down
Not to end the exhibit
But to conceal the curing spirit.

The road is narrowing for the Just
Terminating the tour of trust
What lies ahead is forged fear
Dominating the resurgence of believer.

The crack of divisiveness
Dilapidating common sense
What warrior shall rise to fling the flame
Of Justice, Love and Dream.
I have all this love
And nowhere to put it
It's rotting inside me
Soft,warm
Unspent.

I reach out in dreams
But wake up alone
His name buried in my throat
Like a secret
I was not allowed to say.

He didn't stay
But the love did
And now it grows wild
Inside a heart
With no one left
To give it to.
Why do I think that I
Deserve more than the other guy
Acting like it's owed to me
Bought and paid for, mine to keep

Why do I treat selfishness
As if it is mine to possess
It's not enough I want it all
And when it's gone, I ask for more

Why do I hold onto pride
Ever tight for dear life
Afraid to let the people see
When it comes to the real me

Why do I light my angry side
Any disagreement, I try and fight
Pushing back with all my might
Thinking that, you're wrong I'm right

Why do I even think
I deserve anything
Angry at my selfishness
Which in turn hurts my pride no less
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