Party plans began
The Wednesday before
In our tiny dorm meeting,
& by Saturday
We were a funny tableau
Of do-it-yourself,
The upstairs girls club-ready & fragrant
As the boys set to boogieing
In pajama pants.
First-floor Will would lug electronics
To the lounge
& plug them in with a crackle
Next to an iced-up keg
& drinks arrayed like rainbows
On a makeshift bar.
If you stepped outside you could hear
Faint sounds of freshmen
Masquerading through fraternities,
But inside we kept it real
To 2Pac & Michael J.,
& jived to “Like a Virgin”
In our shimmering vortex.
We felt free without wristbands
As we dished out cards
In corner game circles,
& raised eyebrows at couples
Slipping off to make love behind locked doors.
Later in the hallway
We’d solve the world’s problems
In confident voices
& let global worries drift off with us at five a.m.
Sunday mornings found us
Leaning on vacuums & trading pearls of gossip
To procrastinate essays,
& when the afternoon light
Began to play off our laptops,
We typed deft words about the real life
But tried to keep daydreaming
In three dimensions.
(2006)
