ON CAMPUS OBSERVATIONS by Jeff Callaway

ON CAMPUS OBSERVATIONS
by Jeff Callaway


gin and tonics
at the Jubilee House
are not enough
to ease the calm
from the love that i lost
they only feed my qualms
about day two with no pot
as i sit up here at the college
and rot
with my lonesome nose in my notebook
i squat
and scrawl my secret words
the passerby might never have heard
but only stare at me
through my wild word sea
like lost little hush puppies read
in wonder
as i wonder why
the beautiful girls they just walk on by
and they don't even
notice me
just because i seem
like some weird luke warm book worm to them
and not the MAN that i truly am
as even more
random folks stroll on by
an old man hobbling horse legged in old worn boots
smoking on a yellowed cigarette through broken teeth
killing ants on the park bench the pain of a sting is
just wishing someone would
notice me
like some kind of finder of lost things
like someone to bring out the beauty with me
to dust off the dust off of these
past relationships
just like a flagship
or an old friend
or a long strange road trip to come in
waves of firework and cathartic good times
that finally
read me
between these
lines
and so yes i will
drink me some more wine
spo dee o dee drinkin' wine
from the bottle of burgundy in my backpack
of rhyme
with no Swatch Watch on my wrist
to tell me the time
and no weed dealer to sell me a dime
as i sit here
stuck in concrete like
community college is a crime
and i'm
craving the caresses
and the freshness of freshmen
and the sexy solar plexus
of this sophomore from South Texas
who's been playing with my emotions
and not my erections
like playing hide and go seek
too good for so long
and
1 Mississippi
2 Mississippi
3 Mississippi
she's gone
but then she's back again
sitting on a bench reading a book called Zen
And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance when
i kiss her and watch heart palpitations begin
as dumb preppy boys stumble by
and coo and clap
and she puts her arms around me
and sits in my lap