It’s finals season. That time of the year where eyes sink, moods drop, and grades swing on the pendulum of our professor’s good graces. Many of us will slink across the library lugging laptops, textbooks, and hope that things actually pull through. During this strenuous time, I feel like my mind roams everywhere. I spend most of my day in the library, with countless hours dedicated to my class routine. Unfortunately, my mind cannot run this hard for the entire day, so I like to take the occasional mini-sabbatical to ease my mind. In the following poems, I describe the slow emotional decay I witness in the midst of this dreadful season.

1.

I'm a sleep walker

In my dreams I wander across starry skies

Ducking under the clouds dripping longheld tears

The wind wails its sorrow

I shiver at the feeling and the clouds rain down from my eyes

And the dark night consumes the sight of my fears

I’m a sleep talker

But my only companion is the lonely moon

Her replies emit no sound yet she speaks to me

Light glimmers above her craters

So I sing their praises to her appealing tune

My voice filling the dark night's air like a cacophony

Upon hearing my song, she laughs back at me

And I am alone again in the deep black sea

The waves of the night run past my body

Still slow yet ebbing on hopefully

I wave at ancient trees that sway their branches back at me

And smile at the flowers which preserve their modesty

They all wait for the sun, aching to be relieved of the night's long sheet

Yet I run away from the sun, hoping to find the ends of the welcoming deep

2.

Trapped in a loud silence

Surrounded by people yet trapped in space

A room so empty that I’m floating endlessly

A vapid existence purely pointless in nature

Distant bodies close figures, none can be told a part

Soft voices, loud thoughts

Disgust bubbles in my throat

Till bitterness spills from my lips

Comfortably numb to the insipidity

Chilled by the feel of a space oddity

A stream of consciousness

I can only float where it flows

Drifting me past the waves of sanity

The water ripples while they settle slowly

3.

Slipping into the gray void

A winding reel of remnant feelings

I watch the film with glassy eyes

Not wet with tears of pain

But soaked with the weight of disconnect

Dragged down by my every breath

I languish in my own puddle

Swimming in self loathing

Wading through false care

Often times, poetry is an easy release, something I can pour into without losing too much. It’s quite important to allow yourself some sort of enjoyment during these trying times, so make sure to grant yourself the joy you deserve. In your moments of leisure, let the mind wander away from calculated formulas, textbook definitions, and next-day-due papers. Sit back, relax, and keep a poem in the pocket.