Alma Mater

Poetry

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Alma Mater

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I remember it like it was yesterday

I swore I was going to fly away

With blue birds on my back

And eggs in my palms to crack

I didn’t know you were my home

Until I had already left

I miss the tidy, lace pink bows you kept

Now all I have is ribbon unraveling

Twisted curls at my feet

Orange sodas, times tables,

Sledding on the sleet

I don’t know if I really miss you

Or just the feeling of being young

Do I just hate the coffee

Or do I truly miss sugar cubes on my tongue

I left that place covered in chalk dust and a thought in my head

I was going to say goodbye to that school if it was the last thing I ever said

But now I remember the concrete beneath my feet

Just a penny lollipop, but so sweet

We watched the windows during class while the seasons changed

We hid under a parachute and pretended that we were heroes

Laughing under a rainbow sky

But now it’s all gone

Just black and white suits and ties

These are the growing pains in my gut as I get taller

The mystically maiming memories of when I was smaller

The rocks that were painted over my bed instead of clouds

And I wish I could turn the sound of the bell down

But that chiming only gets loud

Everybody else moved on

Smiling in Instagram posts and growing up

But I’m still in the schoolyard

Grown and missing the way thoughts used to move around my head

I can still hear us laughing under the parachute

Writing it all down

With a #2 pencil of lead

My alma mater,

I never want to forget.

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Violet Binczewski is a sophomore at Mount Saint Joseph Academy. She is a published author, with her book “The Ocean and Her Shadows” being released in early 2024. She has also had her work featured in Moonstone Arts Center’s New Voices Anthology 2024 publication, The Elysian exhibit at the Eclipse Center in Lansdale, as well as the Philadelphia Stories Junior 2024 showcase.

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