Elijah Nepomuceno ’28 is a first year student from Philadelphia. Elijah is a prospective double major in philosophy and political science. Elijah loves to write (and sometimes perform) poetry and satire through which concepts of identity, absurdity, and community are explored.
Dream
I am asleep
deprived of the dawn that illuminates my world every morning
there seems to be an eclipse of my soul so that every night
I wonder if there even was a day
because what soul doesn’t dream?
And you can’t be dreaming without
being awake.
But sleeping,
mothers told their sons,
is how we grow into mountains.
What good is being a mountain, mother,
when my own size blocks out
my light?
Because now I grow everlastingly in the darkness of night
hopelessly vigilant for a dawn,
that slimmer of light that tells me:
awaken, son;
it is time to rise.
it is time to dream.
But there is no sun to rise with me because I am asleep every day
is a midnight’s slumber
every night
tectonic plates collide
eternally
I cannot rise like the sun
because I am rising in my sleep until the boulders turn into pebbles
yet tonight I rest
and I close my eyes
hoping to be blinded
by our rise
through my erosion
so I can be awake
and in my slumber
I can dream.
Megumi Jindo ’28 (she/her) is a spoken word poet and a first year at Swarthmore College. She has been published in Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine and Ice Lolly Review, among other places. She has been recognized for her poetry as a 2023 New York State Youth Poet Laureate Finalist and as a recipient of the 2023 and 2022 ruth weiss Poet Award. You can find her pumping to music, taking pictures of nature, or pensively thinking with the stars.
lilac
i have scars on my arms
my eyes line with red
purple from the vine tree—
the circles under my eyes
i haven’t slept for days
the left side of my neck is sore
my temple beats with precision
and my soles are bloody brown
trespassed every gate
you blocked me out
hatred crystallizing your sweet soul
you used to play like an angel
a harp on the last days of summer
but now i’m like the coldest of your winter
the knot you never want to untie
the evil you won’t ever dare to whisper love again—
it’s okay
i think
i’m starting to dance without you
______
This poem is written for when you lie awake at night wondering what went wrong in a relationship — when the hurt comes, but happiness grows by separating from people you love.
the way you left
dandelions
they fall right where you are
plucking the petals off
daisies
they used to be your favorite
until marshall died
and we—
you wilted
you brushed your tears
and never looked back since
________
This poem is written for when someone you love leaves you and they’re doing better off without you — it’s like you never mattered.
