You've gotten soooooo good at this. I can't even tell you. This is your art, and you're shaping and developing it until it's perfectly you. There's a rhythm to these poems, an ease and bite that I really enjoy. Mundane is probably one of my favorites, largely due to your phrasing--the words heighten the task you're describing. bleachy grit and Comet! punctuated with the exclamation mark was an excellent touch.

I fell right into the journey you take us on in Changes. It's vividly present; I'm there as you drive down the roads noting differences, thinking about your friend. It's bittersweet and a little sullen and also a little bit discordant, like maybe you've grown out of home.

Thank you for sharing these parts of your life with us. They're beautifully written. It sounds like you had a fabulous year--congratulations on all of your accomplishments! This has me excited to move into my new college come August. I think our schools are probably pretty similar! We should compare notes sometime!

Excellent, Erin! (Ooh, double E's!) I wanted to add that I can see you writing some kind of novel in verse...your style seems suited perfectly for that!

Mundane is my favorite, too. :)
I'm glad life is going well for you! It was nice to see a post from you up this morning.
And thank you. :)

Wow, hon. I regret not reading your poetry more. I'll have to go over it. Your writing has matured so much, and honestly, you seem different too. A little more thoughtful. This is fantastic, beautiful, a little heartbreaking even - and I love it.

Thank you, friends!

I've been wanting to comment for a week now and haven't found the time so now I'm making the time (yes it's 1:30 AM... But you know what, I'm gonna comment! lol!)!
Alright, aside from the B.E.A.U.tiful poetry you've crafted so amazingly I am most impressed with the Author's note!!! OMG!!! Great job, freshman year and you've already accomplished so much, you sound so popular and cool and smart, haha! Can you even believe how the time is flying! Wow, Erin, really girl you are inspiring! Congrats!
These works of art just show case how incredible you are! I really really really adore Changes, it was so personal and raw but somehow relatable; the talent that you have for that is incredible!
Can't wait to read more of your work super-woman! Lol! Thanks for posting these, how raw and beautiful! Sorry for my gushing (hideous grammar and over use of exclamation points) comment, I'm gonna use 1am as an excuse on this one ;P lol!
Great job! Keep posting these pieces of art, and happy summer break! Can't wait to see all you accomplish next semester :D

Hi Erin!
I read your notes when you had posted, but not the poetry and wanted to comment until I read the writing.
But first, I am so happy for you for your success in your first year in college! And being a tour guide, read your poetry for a dinner, campus photographer, etc..ahhhhh! :) You sound like a hard worker. I know you will continue to do great things next year!
As for the poetry, I like Changes as a whole. Especially the one about the unused car, and how the person looks like his mother. In all of these, your feelings and heart really comes through! That's special, because I feel the honesty.

How did I miss these poems?! I've said it before, but I just love reading your poetry, and would absolutely eat up a book collection. I could comment on them all, but this one in particular:

"how I pass by your house
and your car is becoming stagnant
from lack of use
pollen staining the blue paint a
sick spotted yellow
I wonder if your tires are
beginning to lose pressure
or if maybe your mom
has been driving it in
your absence"

-- this completely hit me. So visceral and visual. I don't know, just the splotches of pollen stain. That image is not emotional in itself, but somehow you create an emotional feel with the entire poem, that made me feel so sad, so longing. Like you captured my own feelings so perfectly, in those few detailed images. Or more like -- I feel like one part of the magic in your poetry is that you *leave room* for the reader. You let us inhabit your poems, bring our own experiences and pasts and emotions to them. You give us incredibly realistic images and your own breath of life, but you let us exist in that space, too. I don't know if that makes any sense. But I think it's a huge part of the impact and power of your poetry.

Edit: Also, this set of poems go really well with each other. I was reminded so much of my own first year in college and my return-home. The new sprawl of buildings, the extra clean house. Love, love, love these.