From an enclosed desk
I’m sitting in the library yet again and I don’t quite know why
The subjects fly over my head as I cram in page after page
And I know that the Battle of Yorktown took place in 1781 and
The equation to calculate the heat of a system is q=mcΔT
But sometimes I waste hours on the computer just surfing the Internet
I cling to Tumblr and I wonder if maybe I’ll find myself somewhere on the dashboard
I repost a picture of a cat.
Other times I read the books in the children’s section of the library
I found a book once with pages plastered in pictures of happy vegetables
With googly eyes glued to their blank faces and smiles carved into the textured skin
And I want to sit on my windowsill
with the window all the way open and look at the stars
Or stroll through the stacks of books upstairs in the library,
running my fingers along each cover and reading snippets
Yes, that sounds nice
But I can see that other person in my head
The one that hears the fingers tapping on the keyboard behind her and
Feels the prickling of the clothing against every inch of her skin and
Counts the steps it takes to get from her room to the library.
She says I need to go study right now or she’ll murder me
I imagine the knife to my throat.
My quarter-term grades today say I got above a 95 in every class but English--ah yes, I remember
I got an 84 on that one paper. I hung it on my wall and I stare at it sometimes
I see couples walking together along the main path
Weaving in and out of the glowing lamplight by the pond
And I speedwalk by them, my feet slapping the pavement with each solitary step
Sometimes I wish I had someone to walk with, that's all:
There are people to love and books to write
Cat pictures to repost
Stars to watch on clear autumn nights and
Why am I in the library again?
by Kayla Kim
The subjects fly over my head as I cram in page after page
And I know that the Battle of Yorktown took place in 1781 and
The equation to calculate the heat of a system is q=mcΔT
But sometimes I waste hours on the computer just surfing the Internet
I cling to Tumblr and I wonder if maybe I’ll find myself somewhere on the dashboard
I repost a picture of a cat.
Other times I read the books in the children’s section of the library
I found a book once with pages plastered in pictures of happy vegetables
With googly eyes glued to their blank faces and smiles carved into the textured skin
And I want to sit on my windowsill
with the window all the way open and look at the stars
Or stroll through the stacks of books upstairs in the library,
running my fingers along each cover and reading snippets
Yes, that sounds nice
But I can see that other person in my head
The one that hears the fingers tapping on the keyboard behind her and
Feels the prickling of the clothing against every inch of her skin and
Counts the steps it takes to get from her room to the library.
She says I need to go study right now or she’ll murder me
I imagine the knife to my throat.
My quarter-term grades today say I got above a 95 in every class but English--ah yes, I remember
I got an 84 on that one paper. I hung it on my wall and I stare at it sometimes
I see couples walking together along the main path
Weaving in and out of the glowing lamplight by the pond
And I speedwalk by them, my feet slapping the pavement with each solitary step
Sometimes I wish I had someone to walk with, that's all:
There are people to love and books to write
Cat pictures to repost
Stars to watch on clear autumn nights and
Why am I in the library again?
by Kayla Kim