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Poem: The campus

State Press Magazine managing editor Sam Ellefson describes the on-campus experience in a poem

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Poem: The campus

State Press Magazine managing editor Sam Ellefson describes the on-campus experience in a poem

swollen heels wrapped up in knit socks

I tread down the mall 

twisted ankle 

broken spine 

the red light shines in too 

bright I shield and smile and work toward something larger, 

larger than me and us and you and him and her and them


     working double

     triple

     I smile

     twist the pinky

     finger the ring

     take a sip, baby


nodding off to the humming, the vibrant 

crooning of the frogs and the beetles and the flies

shortened residency

     I offer you this and ask for nothing


     nothing

         in return except


     for something

         something slight and sweet


grounded stomping barefoot

cold concrete

blistered soles swoon and croon and shake me 

but I'm smiling

gleeful indignation corners lustful flight

and hugs the boy with all its might


words fester like a ruby red rash

turn the heat up

more crocodile tears for the poor temptress

weeping latitudes caress the delicate

trickle up my hooked spine

and fall down like rain


the blaring boredom beats the bare bones of the boys in the backyard


perched among the fickle timestamps

flirt with the stagnant clock

inside this hearth is a dearth of flame

stifled embers emitting flakes of pale ash

cotton clad chair creaks and cradles 

supporting introspection and flight


don't run too fast you’ll slip you’ll let it run loose you’ll tear through

january leaves flutter onto my 

feeble shoulder twinkling persists

vagrantly and subtly

subtlety bemuses

inflicts 

as the tension mellows

unevenly


Reach the reporter at ellefsonsam@gmail.com and follow @samtellefson on Twitter. 

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Sam EllefsonMagazine Managing Editor

Sam Ellefson is a managing editor for State Press Magazine, contributing articles between editing and guiding a team of writers. Sam is a junior getting a degree in journalism with minors in film and media studies and political science.


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