Spring Break Poems

I wrote a poem a day during spring break. They aren't the best, but they make me laugh. :)


Sunday, March 13

We were awake at 5.30 and out the door by 6
Our drivers fell asleep at 9.30 the night before and woke up at 4.30
That was the time I fell asleep. 4.30.
In Alabama there was a Chinese buffet billboard.
It had a baby on it.
Do they serve babies?!?
I fell asleep 3 times.
The AC was broken.
I went deaf in my right ear as we flew 80mph down the interstate
To board the cruise.


Monday, March 14

We are on board waiting for our LifeBoat Drill
And free liquor tastings
The sky is overcast and my foot
Was slammed in the health club door
A freaking giant step and heavy door.
Now I have two ankles on one foot.
I wait for my luggage; everyone has theirs.
I am certainly not the angel of good luck on this trip already
And already I want to throw two friends overboard.
Mimic-y, loud, obnoxious, lemming, and rat.
But I really love them.
I do.



Tuesday, March 15 (Belarus)

There is a bartender who always happens to find the 7 of us.
His name is Kirill and his“Russian is perfect, but my English…not so much.” He graduated from the Russian military
And also has an engineering degree.
This is his second cruise.
He smiles often and his eyes are as clear as the water the boat churns through
I wonder if his bald head burns.
Lindsy says he is my soul mate, but retracts the comment
When I had to ask her his name.


Wednesday, March 15

Carlos & Charley’s encompassed every typical college
Spring break scenarios possible.
Yard long margaritas, beers, and rum & cokes. (capitan!)
You must drink Dos Equis in Mexico. Apparently.
Spanking
Ass grabing
Dancing
Drinking
Screaming
Hot boys
Gorgeous girls (yeah, ladies!)
Blue ocean
Sun burns
Oy!
Do you know that swimming in the ocean drunk is not the smartest idea?

Thursday, March 16

John Scrafano was on an infomercial today. He was an RA in Forest my freshman year.I had a very bad, very sexy, very disturbing dream with him in it once.
Crazed madness.
Linsdy knows him too. We yelled at the television.
The backs of my legs are charred from reading on my stomach on the beach
I cannot extend my legs because the backs of my knees are almost in blisters
We frolicked in the ocean. the seaweed bit us and left marks and rashes
We stayed in a restaurant for 3 hours drinking yards of booze.
We went back to the ocean.
Mark & I Look Like Lobsters.
Cozumel, here we come

Crucial Transfusion

Crucial Transfusion

Walking into AutoZone makes me break out in a cold sweat.
I drop your hand.
Everything is in code. Written in a language
I knew probably existed.
It’s like reading Klingon.

Looking to you, my guide and translator, I worry
my eyes look like those of a frightened horse.
More white than color.
I know they’re filled with confusion and anxiety
As if I’m about to leap out of an airplane
And hope the parachute works.

I have an oil filter and 5 quarts of Mobile 1 in hand.
Ready to venture out into the grown up world
of oil changes, bills and 401Ks.
You squeeze my hand.
The parachute is a bit tighter around my body.

My blue-black Honda (Cassandra) is on 16 degree ramps.
My cutoffs and dirty tshirt are ready for hard work.

I crawl under the car next to you,
staring at the uniformity of color
and odd shaped organs I need to save.
I feel like I need an anatomy book;
I don’t want to kill her.

You show me how to drain the oil
I allow it to splash on my arms.
We both tear at the filter;
It finally succumbs and we bring the pristine replacement

An oil filter transplant is a triumph.We give another oil transfusion and I smile
as I start the car.

Success.

Rotting

This was based on work by Mark Doty. i don't think my line indents will work as well on this, but i'll try.

Rotting

I was early today and sat on cold concrete
watching men, brown with dirt and too much sun,
assemble the skeleton of a new building.

I’ve watched it every week, rise and grow
the way a bird builds a nest
or ants create their colony.

I sit and eat a sandwich that is soggy
from sitting in a cooler for too long.
Hours, maybe days.

I wonder and hope that all the workers are faithful.
That they’re strong. That booze, drugs, or a competitor’s
money won’t dissuade them from their job.

Because if just one man decides
he won’t give the 100%, the entire building
will fall apart from the inside. Cracked foundations

My academic brain soaks this in and I watch
the men pour more concrete while students
drop cigarette butts at their feet.

The trees have begun their rebirth.
Flowers from magnolias bloom then die.
Petal by petal their beauty decomposes.

Even in spring I see death.
The red petals of tulips scream at me for help.
Why can’t they be white, yellow, pink?

Have aphids attacked roses yet?
Have they been destroyed?
Rotting from the inside?

Apartment Complex

This was based on work by Elizabeth Alexander for class. she writes a lot about race and it's relationship with her.



Apartment Complex

1.
The smell is invading my nostrils as I walk down the hallway.
I cannot tell what is cooking--
Stir fry dishes used to all smell the same.
Now I’m at a loss.

2.
For the first time in my life, I’m the minority.
Beautiful women with shiny black hair surround me.
Men who simply look intelligent walk my hallways.
Why do they have to be my hallways?

3.
Are they talking about me as I walk to get my mail?
They looked my way and laughed.
That’s universal.
I smile and look down as I pass them,
Their language is a cacophony in my ears.

4.
I always feel like the oppressor when I walk home.
The white woman who does no wrong…
Is that what they think I believe?
I’m intimidated by superior knowledge, harder work
And more musical ability than I will ever know.
I’m plagued by all kinds of stereotypes.
Even the good ones.

5.
I dream of myself as a baby
With jaundiced skin and almond eyes.
After she saw it, my best friend asked
If I was Asian.