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Young Writers Society


sometimes I hear the bell ringing



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Points: 24185
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Tue Apr 23, 2019 4:20 am
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TheSilverFox says...



XXII. Berthoud Hall

We come here every week
to sit at the tables by the rocks,
eat pizza and oreos,
pull up our presentations,
and honor the prophet
who carved "you are gay"
into the wood.

Three hours of classes
have burned holes through my eyes,
closed my lungs, sucked any last words
out of my throat and onto the calc worksheets
I furiously write on, take pictures of, scan in
as I hear about rebellions and revolutions
and the many ways in which we can love
and care for one another.

But maybe, one of these days,
I'll find my voice and add it to the chorus
that drifts around the room,
and find my place in a generation
that doesn't have any others to lean on.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





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299 Reviews



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Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Wed Apr 24, 2019 4:46 am
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TheSilverFox says...



XXIII. Mines Market

I don't like listening to music sometimes;
there's really only so many ways
you can chop up and remix a song,
throw in violins and toss out chiptunes,
before it starts to feel like music
that's sunk a little too far into the background
to mean anything.

So I was pretty happy that the cafeteria
didn't blare out saxophone solos, pop songs, or Beethoven,
but instead made sure the staff could hear me
awkwardly talking to friends, walking up and down the stairs,
and leaving the building before they had a chance
to forget about me and lock me in
(not that I would've blamed them -
I'm not exactly memorable).
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





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299 Reviews



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Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Thu Apr 25, 2019 5:10 am
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TheSilverFox says...



XXIV. Pedestrian Plaza

No cake,
no candles,
no unwanted presents,
no cards,
no calls from relatives.

Nothing but a new number to live by for a year;
nothing but a reminder in the back of my head
as I plunge into the depths of three hours of classes
that I only have three more years in front of me;
Nothing but a few friends, the coffee shop in front of us,
and the idea that I don't have to go through this life thing
living up to someone else's expectations.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





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299 Reviews



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Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:18 am
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TheSilverFox says...



XXV. Volk Gymnasium

I didn't think I'd end up in so many places
where I could probably get murdered,
much less in one night.

There was the basement of the 150-year-old house,
concrete crackling and crumbling over steep stone steps,
busted lamps, banged-up signs, and the pile of mattresses
behind the walls (the owner was a little afraid that somebody
might break in and sleep in there, and I couldn't blame him
for being worried about that - from what you said,
it was comfortable enough).

There was the alley squeezed into the gymnasium
right next to the walkway
where I had spent my Thursday mornings out of breath;
I knew that there was a dead end there,
but that didn't stop you from trying to climb your way up it
(you failed, but at least you didn't hurt yourself going back down).

I'm not sure I understand you;
I can't relate to how impulsive, daring, bold, energetic you are,
despite the (probably many) times you've been bruised and wasted.
Still, you made that night a little more interesting,
and I have to thank you for that.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





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299 Reviews



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Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Sat Apr 27, 2019 5:30 am
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TheSilverFox says...



XXVI. The FIJI Study Room

I have to sit here,
hacking at these problems
that leer up
and ask
what
I think
I'm doing, say
I spread my wings
and fly to somewhere safer.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





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299 Reviews



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Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Sun Apr 28, 2019 4:26 am
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TheSilverFox says...



XXVII. CoorsTek Building

Straighten your tie, comb your hair,
pace the hallway, run up and down the stairs,
straight the posterboard, grab some clamps,
sit in the chair, look out the window,
watch the grassy field outside, watch the crowd swell up inside,
say hello to your teammates, clamp the poster into place,
set the prototype on the table, run over to the buffet,
run back with sweets and soups, try not to get chocolate on your suit,
hear the announcer, hear the rules,
see the judges, see the sweat dripping off people's faces,
mouth the perfect speech, glance and glance and glance at the watch,
listen to the judges bite and praise, remouth your perfect speech,
say hi when they finally come over, say your name,
say what your project is, say what your device does,
say how many lives your device saves, say how cheap it is,
answer their remarks, admit what you do and don't know,
breathe a sigh of relief as they walk away, talk to your team,
glance and glance and glance at the watch, give your speech to bystanders,
wait for the heavy footsteps of even more judges, remouth your perfect speech,
try not to screw up your perfect speech, wave goodbye to the judges,
watch the group together, glance and glance and glance at the watch,
hear the final announcements, watch the winners get paraded around,
take down the poster, take the clamps off the posterboard,
figure out who's going to keep the device, thank each other for a great semester,
get your belt back, run up the stairs,
run down the hallway, stop at the window,
stare out at the dark campus,
stare out at the lampposts on the street below,
stare out at the moon dimly lighting the roofs of the buildings,
stare out at the gentle breeze blowing through leafless trees.

b r e a t h e.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





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Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:23 am
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Ventomology says...



FOX I LOVE IT. I think you could do a little more to organize (or let the chaos run its course). You could also do something interesting with those repetitions.
"I've got dreams like you--no really!--just much less, touchy-feeley.
They mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny
on an island that I own, tanned and rested and alone
surrounded by enormous piles of money." -Flynn Rider, Tangled
  





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299 Reviews



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Points: 24185
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Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:26 am
TheSilverFox says...



@Ventomology, thanks! I really should've gone for more repetition and a little more chaos, 'cause daaaaang was being in that competition an experience.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





User avatar
299 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Mon Apr 29, 2019 6:17 am
TheSilverFox says...



XXVIII. The Fiji House (haiku)

Tomorrow it snows;
it will not stop my slow march
to this year's warm end.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





User avatar
299 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Tue Apr 30, 2019 4:58 am
TheSilverFox says...



XXIX. Brown Hall 3rd Floor Balcony

If I had the guts to,
I would dangle my feet over the edge,
watching students run to and from classes
or maybe the sun drowning in the purple mountains,
or maybe the people running on treadmills in the gym,
or maybe the clubs setting up shop at harassment plaza,
or maybe the small house where people set up slacklines,
or maybe the glass cafeteria where I've eaten a thousand mediocre meals,
or maybe the building where the bell rings every hour.

Somehow, alone, with only one of those little plastic chairs,
it's easy to pretend that there's no one on the other side of the glass behind me,
in the classroom to the right of me, in the building, on the street below,
anywhere at all - it's me, the cold wind, the blue sky, and solitude
(ερημιά).
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  





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299 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 24185
Reviews: 299
Wed May 01, 2019 5:05 am
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TheSilverFox says...



XXX. Guggenheim Hall

sometimes I hear the bell ringing,
booming its vaguely eerie notes
as my hungry self walks towards the cafeteria

and sometimes it's a faint echo,
bouncing off the sides of the building
I go inside to learn how to blow things up

and sometimes it's a tinny whisper
when I sit by the edge of the parking lot,
sip coffee, and watch people drive in and out

and sometimes it's a drumroll,
echoing from ear to ear as I run
and try not to be too late for class

and I've never quite liked it -
it sounds off-tune, hollow, empty as it roars
out of the golden dome it comes from

but I think it'll always be with me,
lurking in the back of my mind
until I walk out of the world

one year ago, I saw this university for the first time,
and one year ago, I decided that I would stay here
for the rest of my life.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse
a persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero,
senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

Inferno, Canto 27, l 61-66.
  








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