Notes About The Poem
2/20/2026 for The Unrepeatable Moment Poetry Contest sponsored by Daniel Henry Rodgers
In Front of My Dorm Room
Three weeks into the academic year,
my dorm room wait list number had come up.
I found my room, hesitated and knocked.
The door swung open swiftly to reveal
a well-built youth who stood at five foot six.
"I will be your new roommate", I then said.
He looked at me and loudly exclaimed, "f*ck".
He paused, and slowly realized again
his dreams of a swinging bachelor pad
had disappeared before his dismayed eyes,
and then he blasted that familiar word.
While he was iterating pause and "f*ck",
I smiled, amused, as I commenced to wait
for this young man to, by and by, wind down.
While doing so, my eyes wandered behind,
to see hard liquor bottles on a fridge,
and knew this would be an eventful year,
and then his tone changed on a shiny dime.
"Welcome," said the boy who would be my friend.
I chose to write about this moment because it makes me feel good in two ways. It is funny, and I have fond recollections of my sophomore year roommate. Also, I'm fascinated by the dichotomy between his initial hostile response and then his welcome. I feel a truth is contained therein. He wore his emotion on his sleeve. We were the odd couple but got along great. I can remember the two of us singing, "I love you baby and if it's quite alright, I need you baby...". I lost touch with him, but by a strange coincidence met his nephew many years later and found he had passed away at age 49. The hardest line may have been "for this young man, by and by, wind down". I always revise my poems as I write them. So, as usual, this is the first draft. Maybe, I should rethink that!
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a
Premium Membership.
