by Chloe Merrifield and Nusaibah Coleman (about the authors)
Fall Part I.
It’s my second year after high school Chloe Merrifield
I left university, the oversized classes
the feeling that I didn’t belong
not to start over,
but to change direction.
I’ve left behind friends,
entering a place where I know no one.
I’m nervous
I don’t know whether this is right,
This college here on Center Street
Nusaibah Coleman
***
Hands held to the heavens open to knowledge
Or a metal book that will crush me with its weight
Above the entrance, a new doorway in my life.
I dragged my questions
Through the shivers of excitement
And the knots of fear towards the admissions office
The first one in my family to start higher education
I had little guidance,
Besides encouragement, my mother’s confidence in me
Nothing to prepare me for the language barrier I found
When I landed at the foot of the admissions office.
They spoke the language of bureaucracy
endless paperwork,
I spoke with the tongue of a soul
Still untethered from the grasps of capitalism
Homeschooled, without an official signature
I had so many questions
Confusion laced uncertainty
No one to translate the forms for me.
***