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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Louisiana Tech chapter.

Aren’t we all poets? I know that I don’t really want to be one, and according to many English teachers and poetry ‘experts’, I am not. However, there is something that satisfyingly validates me whenever I open up the iPhone Notes App. Maybe it is the fact that I am almost 100% sure that everyone else does the same thing (much like recording yourself singing in Voice Memos) that has made me more comfortable with this fact. So here are a couple of the mediocre and lazily thought out poems that have plagued my Notes for a while.

silhouette  of person looking at colorful sky
Photo by Greg Rakozy from Unsplash

Tears don’t fall in space

 

Tears don’t fall in space

But the ocean between us is 

a DIY project I want to forget in 

The shed

The basement 

The dark spot in my head

That I don’t ever revisit lest to feed

swelling waves of resentment 

 

Tears don’t fall in space 

But we’ve never been further apart

I just never realized, but

suddenly I’m hyper-aware 

That I’ve been drowning 

In floods of

Unshaded rainbows—

Lackluster promises.

 

Tears don’t fall in space

But it’s not like you’d be here to

Say something else—

You can’t prove me wrong

When we were supposed to be one

You were perpetually counting 

The sun the stars the moon the rings—

Yet there’s none

 

I believe that this poem is my favorite. It is so dramatic and angsty, but I think about what inspired it and laugh. I was watching an interview with an astronaut, and he said that “tears don’t fall in space”. I thought it was really cool. Fast-forward a few seconds, and he’s now talking about how the toilets in space have to suction anytime they go to the bathroom because much like tears other bodily fluids do not fall in space. So really, this poem should be called “An Ode to Waste in Space” but for the sake of anyone with a sensitive stomach, it shall remain.

person holding book in a bath
Photo by Taryn Elliott from Pexels

Why we read

 

Don’t tell me to read because it makes me smarter.

Dumb people win all the time.

 

Don’t tell me to read because it’s fun.

Boring people routinely thrive.

 

Don’t tell me to read because the words are beautiful.

Beautiful things are always rotting.

 

but,

 

Encourage me to read to fill the gaps between

Empowered and oppressed

 

I like to think of myself as an extreme advocate for reading. I stay ready to defend my major (English), and the fact that my bookshelves are overflowing with books I haven’t gotten around to reading yet. I can go on forever about how books are important for many different reasons, but I will cap it at this one: books represent. Whether they are representing a person, concept, or fantasy, they are making sure that someone feels represented in a world where they may not be number one. So this poem is my sassy rebuttal to people who tend to miss the point and only can come up with reasons that can be disputed and contradicted. 

pile of books
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

So, those were a couple of the poems that my Notes have endured singularly for a while. They are not ground-breaking and the meanings aren’t that serious, but they are something that I have created! Many people try to gatekeep certain things and put limits and expectations on what it takes to be acknowledged as a ‘real’ fan or creator. I not a fan of those standards. I believe things people can enjoy and create should not be put to a specific ideal. Instead, the only thing that should be required is if a person enjoyed the product or the creation. People should be allowed to create and enjoy whatever they like, especially when the world is in such disarray. Enjoy your cheesy Notes poems and share them with people who didn’t ask. Keep creating!

Mandilyn McMillan

Louisiana Tech '20

I am a Senior at Louisiana Tech University and I have spent my years studying Literature and trying to learn some Spanish. I enjoy sneaking around with 'non-scholarly' books in my purse wherever I go and having strong opinions where they matter.
I'm a Junior Creative Writing major and Editor in Cheif for the Her Campus chapter at Louisiana Tech University, who hopes to be a professional writer/editor one day! I love to joke around, but also talk about critical moments in my life and those that surround me to hopefully offer entertainment and guidance to my readers!