And He Bringeth Up

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Honorable Mention

And He Bringeth Up

Memory stumbles in the head;

The sunlight flickers once upon

The massive shafts of Babylon

And ragged phrases in a flock

Settle softly, shock by shock.

--Unknown

I glanced over my shoulder to see if they were coming. It was a pleasant day--a little too hot, at least for my taste, but otherwise the blue sky and milky clouds made a perfect day for a sun-lover. The group was lingering at the statues, black and dark green sculptures of brilliant people doing very important things. What, we couldn't be sure, but they were obviously very important.

The ivy hung on the tall sandstone arch, a clock peeking out of the green. Again, I turned to see if my peers were following, and they were, reluctantly. I quickened my pace, anxious to see the place. It had only been a year, but it felt like much longer.

I bent over and rested my hand on the sun-baked ground. It was too hot to take off my sandals and feel the hardened grains against my toes, but at least I was there. I stepped onto the hard, man-fashioned nature and raised my eyes to heaven. Everything was still there--the palm trees with their sometimes-dangling leaves. The old buildings, all created with the same sandy brick, surrounding the area. The darkened star in the heart of the ground. But mostly, the church was the same. The gold-plated surface shone, not like it did at night, but in its own daytime way. I always thought it so ironic that the soul of such a liberal university was this cross-topped chapel in memory of Christ and those who would never forget him. I never got to go in there, I thought. I always wanted to, but I never did.

ORANGES GO TO THE OPERA

Go back and tie your hair, said my mother,

and Why is your mouth all green?

Rob Roy, he pulled some clover,

as we crossed the field, I told her.

--May Swenson

That carpet always reminded me of very soft, very white corn-on-the-cob that had been scraped off, perfectly intact, and laid on the ground where I would sit and watch TV in the morning before I went to school. Mom would come in and bring me breakfast and I would watch Dennis the Menace or Gem and the Rockers or, on that day, Sesame Street.

Shoshermosher was with me then, watching Sesame Street, eating breakfast in the living room.

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