By Anonymous and Amit Tobolsky
Each month, the YU Observer sends a call to YU students for poetry submissions following a specific theme. This month, the theme was “Transition”, and we are featuring Jacob Jablonka’s piece, “Birdsong in Watercolor”. However, the poems below are other submissions of honorable mention.
Transition
By Anonymous
The day I became an alien was the day I lost my friends
The day I decided to board that spaceship and fly away to a place that was far away
far better than here
A place that was calling my name.
It was that day that I stopped ignoring who I am.
The day I decided to accept that I’m different.
The day I decided that friends are supposed to make you feel good about yourself
And not like an alien.
Support you no matter what.
Invite you places.
Smile at you.
Notice you.
Notice when you’re in pain.
Not be the ones to cause it.
The day I decided that impressing was just depressing me
The day I decided that coffee sipping and gossiping wasn’t for me
And only sips the life out of you.
The day I decided that chasing boys only leaves you tired and out of breath
While chasing girls that are chasing boys leaves you even worse off
Face flat on the floor
The day I decided that alcohol will only create a hole
Penetrate your soul
And will never quench your thirst for meaning
I know better than that.
So I’m an alien now
I’ve always noticed myself hovering above them
But I chose to ignore it.
Maybe I’m the crazy one I thought.
Just be normal.
Come back down to the ground
Down to earth
Low enough to get stepped on
Every day I went to school and tried to fit in
But people noticed I was different and they didn’t like it
They were scared of me
They’d look at me
Stare
And all they’d see were three eyes on my forehead.
Eyes that don’t work the same as theirs do
Eyes that don’t see how they see
So here I am
Alienated
I’m used to it
Sometimes I wave down from my ship
Check if anyone’s looking for me
But nobody waves back
They don’t see.
I smack the glass
Almost shattering it
But they don’t realize.
It’s because to them I’m in a different world
I’ve learned a new language that they can’t speak.
No one misses me
No one checks up on me
Maybe they think I forgot English
I’ll admit
Sometimes I wish I can just come back.
It will all be easier if I act like them and fit in with them.
Be
Normal.
It will be great
I’ll cover up an eye
Blinding myself from other people’s troubles
From the truth
I’ll do what they do
But then I remind myself that it’s not worth it
Do I really want to leave all of this behind?
This is where I belong now
Here I feel loved
I feel important
Appreciated
Respected
I feel special
To them I have a purpose
I’m out of this world
Up here I can shoot for the stars
How can I give that up?
If that’s what it takes to be normal
Then thanks
But
I’d rather be an alien.
Some say aliens aren’t real
But I guess that just means they’ve never met one
Because all the aliens I know are more real than any people I’ve ever met.
And I wait for the day everyone too will realize this
But not to say I told you so.
That day, I will welcome them with open arms and an open heart.
The day they will join me.
Because maybe
Just maybe
The day they become aliens
Will be the day I’ll finally get my friends back.
Memory Lane
By Amit Tobolsky
And the rain
keeps falling
As i walk through memory lane
You’re like dust
Keep me broken
I can’t face you now and then
Breathe out,
Let go of your mesmerizing
past.
But you can’t dry when it still rains,
Please,
don’t lure me back to memory lane.
Do you want to see your writing published? The theme for December’s poetry submissions is “Revision”. Send all submissions to theyuobserver@gmail.com by December 13.