Tipton Poetry Journal

This is when I think of you Melissa Parietti This is when I think of you: I think of you in philosophy club While boys and girls throw Kant, Nietzsche, Locke at each other's sweater-covered arms, extend to eager raised hands. I think of you when I shouldn't When I'm laughing with friends And singing in the dark When girls pass me in the hallways And casual Hellos abound I think of you in anthropology, Don't ask me why. I think of you, and your bedroom floor Stains on the bed sheets My breathing, Yours. I think of you always at the wrong time I think of you when it hurts the most I think of you in movie theaters where bad movies play, and empty seats surround I think of you when I close my eyes and try. I think of you when I read the newspaper And brood over my daily bounty Of homework and social encounter And the days I spend here, the weeks to come I think of you when I think of time

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