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!

Evolving Emotions: Overwhelming Prospects

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Smothered in paper

Opening and closing

 

My laptop and textbook

Ubiquitous

Cups of coffee surround me

Highly caffeinated, sleep deprived students

 

Talk and walk quickly

Obviously overwhelmed and

 

Doing all they can

On the path to graduation…

***

Stumbling upon an

Open space

 

Magnificent newness

Unknown to me

Cautiously approaching what is

Hardly familiar

 

Too many places

Objects

 

Sights to behold

Endless

Exploration to embark on

***

Sorrowful words

Over who I could have been

 

Mulling over who I could be

Unbridled

Creation

Happening now

 

To become

Obsolete is likely

 

But to become

Extraordinary would be spectacular.

So much to do. So much to see. So much to be. How beautifully unfortunate.

Evolving Emotions: The Inventor’s Mind 

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Majestic but plain

Concrete but finicky

Mysterious but disclosed

 

Triumphant yet bittersweet

Crazed yet sane

 

Wholesomeness twisted

Into a contortion of the purest will

 

What is it that you want from me?

A craving that torments your inner satisfaction

 

A sadistic masterpiece

Of enrapturing composition

 

Tweaked by the mind

Solidified in the soul

Written on the tongue

Etched in the heart

 

A chase amidst insanity

Within the mind

Barriers to the complete

The creation

 

Each intricately aligned

Precisely where intended

For the eye to digest

And for the mouth to gasp in disbelief

 

The beauty in perfect imperfection

Synonymous antonyms

Arranged for the insane guest

Amidst a chase towards insanity

 

Evolving Emotions: Resolve

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A much-awaited blank slate

A fresh commencement

A new beginning

 

Millions flock

With hopeful hearts

And passionate gazes

 

Purchase a membership

Begin an instrument

Preserve the coin

 

Stop smoking

Quit biting your nails

End negative self-talk

 

Do better

Be better

Live better

 

Newfound confidence

In a person, just the same

In a year, just the same

As before

 

A new package

Wrapping glimmers beneath

An optimistic bow

 

Inside a gray waste

Previous aspirations

Tossed aside

A mangled mess of guilt awry

 

Pointlessness is relative

Some cling to goals

Triumph in the struggle

And come out champions of their mind

 

Most others agree

A new year

Is a number.

 

Weightless

Baseless

Worthless

 

The moment motivation grips you

Run with it

Awaiting that square on your calendar

Is an absurd venture

 

Move your body

And achieve

 

One life to live

Why spend it waiting?

 

Why say, I’ll stop and smell the roses next year?

Evolving Emotions: Not Very Merry

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Why must the numbness set in?

Amidst the bountiful wreaths

The warm greetings

And a fireplace to match

 

Creeping into my mind

Infiltrating my thoughts

Manipulating my chest

Bleeding from my mouth

 

The eyes dull

The limbs lose concentration

The body stills

 

A blankness overwhelms

Focus settles

On the gleaming whiteness

Of the open air

 

Crispness envelops

The winter scene

Of snowy scapes

And a body on its surface

 

An icy chill works its way into the soul

There is no struggle

No escape

The bitter cold sets in

Solidifying the monstrous mind within

 

No matter.

 

Why?

As the children make angels in the snow,

The families rejoice in melodious activity,

And the merriment of all relaxes the world,

 

Am I here

On this Earth

Without a joy in my heart?

 

No matter.

Sorry, this poem was a bit of a downer. I truly hope that you have a wonderful holiday season. It’s important to make the most of life and create memories with those you care about. Share those moments, laugh, soak it in. Tell people you love them and don’t be afraid to take time for yourself. Don’t be like the person in this poem!! Wishing you a joyous and healthy end of the year, EKArts.
Here’s a more cheerful one! <|:)

Evolving Emotions: Never Quite Right

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A strange place

The table isn’t quite situated

On the once whole tiling

Proper is the word

 

The smell that once greeted me

Feels out of place

Inside my lungs, it is a stranger

 

What has become of

The inhabitants

Which I thought I knew?

 

Nothing could’ve prepared

My mind, my body

For this upheaval 

 

Guttural

Inconceivable

Quaking

 

In the now fractured life

I stubbornly live

My arms crave a rope

My feet, solid ground 

Unsatisfied is the word

 

This bizarre, unsatisfying abode

Which I once called home

Is now alien

With a peculiar look

And paint laced with difference 

 

Will things return

To the gaps in my head?

 

Will I find peace

And solace in the disruption?

 

Nothing will take its original form

The form has shifted

The feeling has shifted 

 

My perception has crossed

Into a foreign land

 

Unbeknownst to me

This is only the beginning 

 

Evolving Emotions: Counterfeit Consciousness

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Smiling faces inundate my view

Their cheer attempts to breach my brain

Hammering away at the worry

The fears

The anxiety

To no avail

 

Laughter fills the air

These lungs of mine force

The artificial happiness sweeps from my breath

Choking on insincerity

 

The sight of fresh and falling snow

Brings enthusiasm to the limbs

Mine mimic

In an awkward sort of way

 

Inside a bubble

Apart from others

Left with the thoughts

That consume me

Waking and sleeping

Smiling and laughing

 

I’m crying now

Real

Raw

Instinctual

 

Yet the worries never cease

The jerking movements

The false air

The smeared smile

 

Faking in the pursuit

Of realness

Indeed.