He Came Back, But It’s Like He’s Still Gone
Well, he came from college just the other day.
His clothes smell like beer and weed (but I couldn't know that, could I?)
He talks about things I don't understand.
Mom is so proud, she made all his favorite food.
He thanks her, but it's fake.
He doesn't care about that anymore.
Dad is smiling, his son is so educated.
My brother will have all the chances that dad never did.
Dad is giving him his old car.
It's a beautiful pick-up truck.
Sure, it needs work, but it runs fine.
I think my brother shitted himself.
Not out of happiness, he's disappointed.
Dad's old truck is not good enough for him,
Not anymore.
I remember a time when he loved that truck.
I remember a time when he loved mom's food.
Years ago, he loved our house, and our street.
He loved our town.
He even loved me, his self-proclaimed favorite sister.
He'd kill me for saying this,
But he cried when he had to leave for college.
I wish he didn't go away.
My brother is a stranger to me,
And it hurts more than he could even know.
WONDERlust
Well he came from college just the other day. Nothing much has changed over these last three years he's spent there. He hasn't gotten clever but he has become quite cross. Perhaps it's because espresso permeates his food pyramid. Maybe it's the fact that no matter how much knowledge he absorbs, he can't quite hold on to it once it slips through the #2 pencil onto his midterm paper. It might be because he spends his hours with hundreds of other people who don't know what they want to do, being told by people who clearly aren't enjoying what they do, that it's ok to not know what to do. He'll just figure it out later, right? He wonders when "later" will come around. Sometimes he goes to the library to study, silently hoping that he'll stumble upon some obscene paragraph in his $216.00 textbook that might inspire him to become something more than in-debt. But he has too many options, because from the very beginning they told him he could be anything he wanted, even the president! So now he wonders what it would've been like to become a blacksmith just because dad was, just because grandpa was.
A Hipster and A Scholar
Well, he came from college just the other day—
brought home with him a new opinion of capitalism,
a dog-eared copy of Naked Lunch,
three Apple devices but only one charger,
an ounce of Colorado indica he bought in Mississippi,
a 23 year old girlfriend with artificially gray hair,
one duffel bag full of skinny jeans and obscure band tee shirts,
another 20 grand in student loans,
a pescatarian diet that he follows unless he's drunk,
two new tattoos that look like future regrets,
a sudden appreciation for David Bowie,
and finally,
gonorrhea.
The boy that made me think...
Well, he came from college just the other day
And somehow changed my world, but hey
A day without him was like me saying
“You know that dragon down town? yeah thats who I was slaying.”
A myth, is what it was
But, also boring as a mass
The whole day I was chatting
About the boy I thought was changing
Yes changing, for we never were apart
Changing, not changed, although he is still not so smart
He came from college just the other day
The boy that made me think “he changed my world, but hey!”
Alpha doesn’t rule for everybody
My so-called brother came home from college the other day.
Summer break, such a heart-breaking break.
He joined a fraternity this year.
Walked in, smelling like cigs and cheap wine.
Seemed off, until I realized he was hungover.
Hugged me roughly, said he was tired, retreated to his room.
When he left for college (ha! more like a 24/7 party), he was an Honor Roll member.
A scholarship recipient.
A healthy young man, ready to conquer all.
Where did he go?
I heard him talking on the phone the other day.
"Yeah man, I'm ready to bust out of here.
When I get back, let's go dig for chicks at that bar. I hear high school chicks are wild."
I'm a high schooler.
I refuse,
absolutely refuse,
to join a sorority.
I will not become a high-five passed around at the fraternity house.