“Did you know Voorhees Mall used to be a street?”
The rehearsed words roll off her tongue.
Fun facts she’s been taught
to pass down to all of the new kids in town.
What more do you know? What more do you wanna tell me?

“Is this what college is like?” I ask her
as everyone else in the class rattles away on keyboards
in the middle of the park. She’s busy on her own, however.
She’s got work to do and I’ve got work to ignore.

But she, too, cannot resist procrastination.
I watch her turn to Matt and talk small; she seems genuine.
It’s a talent, I guess:
The inviting smile, the calm voice,
the springtime eyes and fire engine hair.

Yes, there are trees. Yes, there is grass.
There’s a blue sky and some clouds.
But, I’m not interested in that.
Sorry, Frost.

Hernan Ramos