Revisiting

 Over the summer I’ve missed a lot of things about college. The pianos. The independence.

The food (ha, just kidding).

But the thing I think I’ve missed the most was how simple it was just to take a peaceful stroll around campus late in the evening. The stars are so much more visible out here, as opposed to in my fairly large hometown, where you have to drive for twenty minutes to find a dark enough place for stargazing.

This summer I’ve missed the closeness I feel-to myself, to God, to the trees-during those nighttime walks. I’ve missed the stars and the poetry they’ve inspired.

But guess what? Now I’m back.

 

Night Campus

Without the sun it’s the same world.

 

The same trees line the same sidewalks,

branches draping just so

leaves still breathing out the same sigh of oxygen

that occupies the same space,

breaks against the same stark corners

and weathered window frames of the same

dignified edifices.

 

The same, and yet unfamiliar world-

a closer world lit by moonlight

and nocturnal lampposts

with the same sky, only bluer.