Follow the crowd
Annoying as it is
Knowing what you say
Isn’t you
Nor has it ever been.
Great lies make up a world.
I wish for
Something real
Plastered smiles,
Authenticity’s eulogy
Illuminates
Necessity
Evolving Emotions: First L E T T E R S
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: Thankful
The comfort in knowing
All is well
And will be well
The security felt
When a sound
Divulges its character
The overwhelming joy that
Echoes through the room
At a ridiculous story
The calm you keep
Close to the chest
Knowing your needs are met
The common conversations
That you simply
Must absorb in your mind
The familiar scent
Of a home
So loved
you get in the car
your glance rips
from familiarity
each mile
unnaturally separating
The love
The struggle
The pain
The growth
The peace
The memories you crafted fade
As the path ahead expands
You know you must
Commence
You tremble
But trek onwards
Hoping for greatness
Cautioned towards aversiveness
No easier to swallow
The tears well up
As you are reminded of what you had
Friends
Remembrances
Home
Family
Even so,
Being apart
Shows how well off
You were
And still are
They have given you this gift
To separate from the world they made
And form a new one.
Evolving Emotions: Last Glow
I saw the stars this morning
The sun had not yet climbed the shingled roofs
Nor surmounted the plumes of smoke
Produced by the slumbering city
Each a fleck of twinkling perfection
My eyes gleamed alongside them
In a vast gift
A sight to behold
These gems of the sky are deceptive
They hide their torment
The destruction that defines their state
They are dead and dying.
That which is beautiful
Is temporary
Breathe in the expanse
The comforting peace
This quiet morning
For it is not forever
Although we wish it to be
There will be a last
Air leaves the lungs
Carrying the soul in its glow
These precious stars shine
Despite their fate
Despite their circumstance
Do not grieve
Let the feeling linger
Let the light bathe you
Do not taint it with sadness
For it happened
It was wonderful
I saw the stars this morning
And it was wonderful.
Evolving Emotions: Awaiting the Boom
A lingering anticipation
Tenses your muscles
The very fibers of your being
Alert
Waiting
Your throat constricts
A thump in your chest moves you
Something screams inside your skull
For the thunderous booms
That will invade your ears
Lingering
Pleading
Everything is still.
The drums erupt.
Pummeling the shingles
The wind howls in grief
At the loss of it all
Everything is washed away
A barren, hard wasteland
A rain of tears mourns for you
What once was hard, softens
Tremors pulse
In the aftermath
After a short while
And a long eternity
It ceases.
The anticipation begins once more.
Evolving Emotions: Perfect
You perfect the seams that line your cloak
Each stitch integrating
Holding
Concealing
Your emotions
So well that they are invisible
Even to yourself
Inevitably
The perfection wears
Little bursts rip the work
You toiled over
Hours spent
Patching, pressing, folding, weaving
A snag
A tear
You are convulsing now
Crying a trail of irresistible emotion
Exposure from the separation
Naked feeling
Composure lost
Pouring out
Paralyzing fear persists
The judging eyes are harsher now
Lying mouth
Shameful eyes
Sore heart
Unrelenting
The great flood lays waste to your
Once perfect work
Evolving Emotions: Forevermore
I feel your presence beside me
On the frigid, unforgiving Earth
On the lonely wooden park bench
On the gentle bed we shared
I hear your voice
In the corridor you passed
In the kitchen you cherished
In the doorway to our home
I smell you in all that is beautiful
A hint of lavender in someone’s hair
A box of oranges sold at the market
A loaf of bread I find at the bakery
I surmise that I’ve see you
Maybe?
Maybe not.
Perhaps it is madness
It’s hard to discern
The wishes and whims
The truth and sacred lies
Perhaps, I witness what I was too blind to see yesterday
No matter
Alas,
We are apart
But soon
We will feel each other’s warmth
In a plane unlike this one
My joy
My love
My apparition forevermore
