6 days

the sun beats down on our little college town
it's been shining here for days
the rain comes in the evening hours
and we all wake up in a haze

but how i long for the riverside
at home and on the lake
the channel and the sixth street dam
for a yesterdog, i ache

a beat up guitar and a cheap bottle of wine
the state park's beautiful at sunset
cross another day off, it's just a matter of time
we'll be there before we know it

but now it's back to merrill hall
and my messy old dorm room
but do me a favor and smile, babe?
we'll be in grand haven soon.

:)

digressions from a paper on the pros and cons of e85 ethanol fuel

my hours are saturated with things to do today
and none of them are terribly exciting
they remind me that i'm supposed to be growing up
like taxes, filed for the first time
lost in a sea of figures and percentages
dictated by my government, out of my control
they wash over me and make me feel small
like a phone call placed to a potential employer
yesterday, because time does not wait
not for even the most down-and-out college student
who needs money to pay his bills that pile up each month
bills for an education, for a future, to overwrite the present
me.
that college student.
trying to define the term that describes what i am,
a college student.
but i've written before how i don't think i'm the norm
for sometimes these weekends drinking dusk til dawn get old
three days under the influence, stopping only to start again
there must be something more, i know there's something more
but where is it?
i try to find it, looking through old photographs
stages, lights, and music
i was famous. as famous as i could have been in a school of 700
known throughout for feats of performance on the stage.
maybe not so famous, but everyone knew my name.
not anymore, now i'm
a college student.
identified by an institution, by a number and a barcode
printed proudly on my identification card
trying to break out of this mold is difficult.

oddly

a quiet morning
yet oddly, it feels like the afternoon
as if time stopped moving yesterday
and decided to never resume

class is canceled today
and oddly, i was eager to attend
as if i was motivated in my sleep
to learn, so i could pass lessons on to friends

the clocks are all wrong in this room
still, oddly, it seems they correspond
as if they are speaking an ancient language
that i will never comprehend

today's news cackles through the radio
but oddly, it seems so old
as if stories never learned from in the past
have been rewritten, recast, and retold

and so, my life is repetition
yet oddly, it seems quite new
as if life is trying to speak to me:
"today is different, be courageous,
and you will make it through."

autumn 2006

we've come so far now
from black paint and gridiron lines
a white flag flying
and best friends at our sides

it was perfect.

and it was easy to be perfect
because we could do no wrong
in september we were strong,
stronger than ever

friday night.

we would send cheers into the darkness
like searchlights, we wanted the world to know
this was our time, and it would never end

homecoming.

a new tie and a button down shirt
a dress to match and we never looked better
pictures lasted what seemed like hours
we couldn't wait to dance
but what would we give now
for just one more frame?
for just one more chance?

untitled #1

these campus dreams aren't ivy and stone
they're shattered pieces of a life back home
the nights they seem so much longer here

my motivation is running low
still i've got miles left go
before i feel your arms again
and you will make me whole

i'm one hundred nine miles from the pier
and it seems like just as many years
since i laid down in the sand so warm
it took away my fears

summertime please bring me back
and save me from this blind attack
that my heart is making on my head
just let me go back to my bed
and help me dream of your warm nights
so i can finally stop this fight

my memories will take me home
even more than that old telephone
ill be there soon, i promise
i'll be there soon, i promise