Author: EKArts

Erin Knape is a University of Michigan senior majoring in psychology and minoring in creative writing. Her greatest passion has always been the arts, whether that be writing, painting, or photography. Capturing Campus, a weekly installment of poetry and photography, aims to capture campus life through artistic expression. Dive into Capturing Campus every Sunday!

Capturing Campus: This ain’t his house

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This ain’t his house

a man lives in my attic

I don’t know if he knows that I know that he lives in my attic

but he sure as hell knows that I know that this ain’t his house

his feet don’t hit the floorboards right

the house squeaks to let him know

he fuzzied the bristles on my toothbrush  

and the cabinet doors are wide open 

he lets them breathe

speakin’ something sad

Every night is a rhythm:

stomp the steps

lift the door 

plump the pink 

pillow in my attic—not his but mine

because this ain’t his house

though he snores like he owns it

I’ll talk to him tomorrow 

Capturing Campus: Birthday Card

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Birthday Card

It was your birthday like every year

colored pencils to paper 

(what knives are to skin)

you told me green was your favorite color

—you didn’t have one

I know that now

but I didn’t know that then—

so I tore up the backyard

ripped leaves from maple trees

scooped moss in mighty handfuls 

fistfuls, pocketfuls

to give to you

you lied because colors don’t shine

for old shuttered eyes

closer to glaucoma than clarity 

bleeding monochrome 

the dull and dim

the world without harpsichord tones

on rolling hills born into richness

of flavor

of color worth witnessing

on the page and in your palms

you are running out of birthdays

Capturing Campus: Be There

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Be There

Who would save you from yourself

When caution signs turn invitation

Who would dampen the fire

At breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Who would force the world to turn

When the door is wedged

And you’re worried about tomorrow

Who would hold you in your head

And carry you in your waking

Who would love you when it’s hard

And calm you when it’s not

Who would be there 

When the drugs wear off

Living gets heavy

I won’t be there

I’m sorry

Capturing Campus: In shades of blue

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*Content warning: Vulgar language*

Dick around in shades of blue

Blue jeans trimmed at the ankles

Blueberries buoyed in jam

Oceans I’ve never seen

Lakes like paintings

Searching for Moby Dick

Crayons in cornflower and indigo

Blue raspberry Slurpee for two

My brother’s favorite orchids

Blue bunnies on plush pastures

Late night bubble blowing 

Songs with somber melodies

Twitter when it was ours

Blue jays in the park

Beneath a soft sky

The color of her eyes

I tended to pastures

Jammed ankles that sang

Like indigo weather

With melodies like paintings

I’ve seen before 

Orchids were her eyes

Two parked beneath the sky

Blowing wind

I love your shades

Of blue

Capturing Campus: Alternative Transportation

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Alternative Transportation 

As a child

colors dissolved

and speckles of magic 

emerged

I waited for something

to take me away from here

But nothing did

so I held up a mirror

and imagined I’d fallen in

to a world opposite this one

grass grew from the sky 

clouds like slippers

teary eyed turned upside

anger was to satisfy

a vendetta paid in full

My friend gifted me a book

empty pages and a burn building 

in a chest beating

for a richer life

where pain isn’t pleasure

where people mean what they mean

where I’m far away

but home

yes, home

Capturing Campus: The Right Way

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The Right Way

I could tell myself 

I’m right

but there is no way to know

how I was meant 

to turn out

the beliefs  

the hurt 

a mind in mutiny

the inside suffering  

indoctrination until opinions

become ghosts

untouched and unfelt

preaching reason and absurd escape

packing the mind until stuffed and bursting 

with hard-to-hear thoughts 

was I meant to be this way

or did circumstance

bend me

into a familiar shape