#campus
You hope that university will answer all of life’s questions, but nope.
I don’t know, I.
There was a guy who’d been hanging around outside our residence lately. Too consistently. At first, I thought he was someone’s friend but he’s always alone. He wasn’t doing anything or bothering my roommates, but that asymmetry set off my alarms.
He looked at me once (which I suppose isn’t a crime), I think, it was quick - a blink of sharp curiosity. I mentioned it to Charles who took his picture. The next morning he said the guy’s a legit student who has no criminal record, so maybe I’m all wrong.
Every girl’s encountered a creep or two before. They’re seemingly everywhere, as if mandated by law, like auto insurance. Most girls develop a sixth sense, a creep-dar. Nowadays, creeps have a new name, “incel” ("involuntary celibate") and they’re a recognized, online subculture. Next, they’ll have a coat of arms proclaiming, “We Would if We Could.” It’s as if awkwardness, a normal human foible, has been distilled into something dangerous.
Although the campus looks like a garden or a perfectly manicured ‘stepford’ park, we joke that it’s really a locked-down, patrolled, surveilled compound, with guards, cameras and card-key access to everything. Which, I suppose, is all to the good.
Our creeper wasn’t there Friday, and he wasn’t there today, so maybe he was nothing.
I don’t know, 2.
I was in Sunny’s room. We were going shopping in a few. There was a little pink book on her bed - a diary!! I’d never seen it before and it was open, about three-quarters of the way. She too-casually moved to scoop it up, like the neglected book of a sorcerer.
My GOSSIP-dar Alerted like a class bell. “Hmm” I hummed, head-tilted, then I laughingly lunged for the book.
Sunny’s eyes went wide for 3-billionths of a second and she snapped it up with the speed of a striking cobra, “That’s MINE” she said, rigid with seriousness.
“What’s going ON?!” I asked, but she shoved it into her night table.
Another mystery!
‘Sleeping dogs,’ I thought to myself.
Apr 10, 2023
Apr 10, 2023 at 2:38 PM UTC
I broke my personal record for days alive yesterday. Yeah me. I feel great today. This morning I swear my hair looked shinier and more lustrous and there’s the slightest glow to my skin. I’m just saying. I’m out and about for the first time this semester and you couldn’t slap the grin off my face.
The commons dining hall was a rolling buzz of conversations endemic to university life. At the next table, the topic is how many people can someone be in love with at once. A girl named Ariana, is at the center of the discussion. She’s a film-study major and I think it’s the topic of a documentary she’s working on.
Ariana has choppy purple hair with bangs about an-eighth of an inch long. Today, (34° and rainy) she’s wearing a short-short skirt, thermal tights that look like sheer leggings and about four tank tops. “You should pick one person and give them your everything.” Ariana argued.
“Monogamy used to mean one person for life,” another girl states, “then it became one person at a time.” I hide a smile and try to look like I’m not eavesdropping. It’s hard to explain how much I adore these overheard conversations.
Soon it’s time to head for class and we're up, gathering our bookbags and putting in our AirPods. When you’re making your way across campus, the goal is to be fast, fierce and bouncy. I love Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers.” It’s Eden on so many levels. People try to shame Miley but the woman goes hard, she slaps - all the things - and “Flowers” is one of those songs that get you there.
Jan 23, 2023
Jan 23, 2023 at 12:35 PM UTC
I was once bullied
They didn't like me speak English
They imagined me to be arrogant.
They forced me into a hall
where poetry competition was on.
My first one ever.
They thought I would have an awakening
and stop speaking in English in the campus.
But I won that time
for the best poem of the year
I remember them vividly
with gratitude of course.
Feb 13, 2020
Feb 13, 2020 at 3:35 AM UTC
There's an apology written in the snow
'I'm sorry about last night. Can I see you again?'
Her wordless exhalation causing the glass to fog
In nearly the same way as her thoughts
About last night
Second date
First ****
Dec 30, 2019
Dec 30, 2019 at 12:35 PM UTC
The blossom floats to the ground
It hits so violently all of hell shakes
Heaven gazes wordlessly from above,
Watching our actions, judging us.
One eye follows our every move,
Waiting for failure; maybe I'll never graduate
Let's wander past old brick buildings
Jul 25, 2019
Jul 25, 2019 at 7:05 PM UTC
On campus
the morning rain is subsiding
while the cool air is still flowing
a live band starts to play
in front of the library
beneath some trees
sweet and beautiful melodies
to promote a ‘happy relax’ theme
while my fingers tap to the beat
a familiar face
appears and sits
between the band
and my seat
indeed a pleasant surprise
but I should leave soon
a revision class is starting
should I stay or should I leave?
ah what a rare chance it is
to find the heart
where it wants to be,
I should stay
yet the tuition class
is where I ought to be
I should go
torn in between
I look up
to the streaks of light
slipping through
the wet foliage,
it then occurred to me
don’t think too hard
just enjoy the stay…
Apr 3, 2018
Apr 3, 2018 at 9:45 PM UTC
we walked through
campus together.
the sun was shining,
purple and gold
flowers lined our path.
in the fountain outside
of the library
birds were bathing
and the campus cats
were sitting in the
bushes, only admiring
because they know better than the boys on campus what not to touch.
Jul 29, 2018
Jul 29, 2018 at 12:39 AM UTC
It's a cool October morning
on campus
across the way children play
you see college students make their way from one class to another
living out these lives that vary from
one existence into another
meanwhile, children play
and all the way these adults
to some and not others
make their way
some pretending
some barely surviving
some ridicule the experience
some express gratitude
because it's all some of us really have
this chance
that one day a future worth living may arise
and then all the while, children play
see,
we all wish we could turn back this clock that
lays both in our existence and our imagination
this clock
that holds these memories
that tells us we're far
and then so near
in the blink of an eye
tells us there may be something to fear
because by chance
one in a few
may not make it
all the while children play
we reminisce about our time
we tell ourselves we wish to turn back to the simple moments
but the truth is
this clock lays partially into existence
so that we may think back
and grasp what we didn't at the time
so that we may act
in accordance
when it comes time
its a cool October morning
on campus
across the way children play
as I make my way
Oct 26, 2017
Oct 26, 2017 at 11:04 AM UTC
Hello!
an abstract page
with an old pen that I always bring in my grey bag
just keep writing and always
on the unpredictable days
creating new laugh and story with my friends
assuredly coloring new days
Feb 23, 2017
Feb 23, 2017 at 1:44 AM UTC
I had to call the cops on my ex-boyfriend last Thursday:
Stop looking at me like I did something to you.
I have campus police on speed dial, if you do not leave, I will call them.
You need to stop pretending like I did something wrong to you.
I am dialing the number right now.
Look at me. Look at me! Stop looking at me like you're a victim! I didn't do anything wrong to you. I don't deserve this.
Look, it's ringing. You need to leave.
First, you need to stop looking at me like I did something wrong to you.
No. Leave.
Look at me!
Leave.
You feel a special kind of guilty when you have a stalker. You don't want to believe that someone you ever loved would to this. You really don't want to believe that someone you were ever intimate with, or someone who has pictures that you painted for them in their room would do this to you. You don't want to feel vulnerable. And you really don't want to feel that every few seconds, you need to be looking over your shoulder for them. You just want them to leave you alone.
Mar 11, 2017
Mar 11, 2017 at 9:57 PM UTC
my brother told me not to use to cope
but too late, i have become a dope
need this to balance my stress
in order to worry less
he told me he's seen early signs of depression in me
man, i hope my problems aren't so clear to see
they call me strong but i feel so weak
waking up every morning wondering if i'll see next week
i can't tell anyone about my subtle suicidal tendencies
for fear they'll send me away to mental facilities
my dad paid 15k to see my succeed
but no money can make my mind feel freed
i miss her everyday.
poetry's a part of me, but without her i have no eyes to see,
left like Odysseus out in sea
everyone needs someone in this life
i know because without her i don't feel alive
to fix this, no scientific formula can be contrived
maybe
just, maybe
if i jump off this ledge i'll be fine,
finally free, up in the sky i will shine.
Oct 1, 2015
Oct 1, 2015 at 12:34 AM UTC
Campus streets
College jeans
Drinking
Excitement
Football teams
Tuition fees
Classroom leans
Confusion
Home
Dorm room dreams
Finals it seems
Ready to scream
Jan 15, 2015
Jan 15, 2015 at 3:22 PM UTC
All these kids got
Sweet ass-pics
Of them around campus
After graduation
And all I’ve got
Is this lame *** pic
With me and three double chins.
May 13, 2014
May 13, 2014 at 10:58 PM UTC