In this recent poem, I attempted to recapture something from my own experience that might resonate with other Grinnellians as well. I always felt there was something magical about the sunlight that streamed down the South Campus loggia, especially how it looked after coming down from the stress of midterm or final exams.
One afternoon the yellow sunlight
One afternoon the yellow sunlight returned
that used to stream down the South Campus
loggia after final exams when most of
the students had already left for home.
I was lying on my bed after a walk and
there it was, coming in through the window,
the sun from 35 years before, whispering
How could you forget me? How, through the long,
long row of windows, I spread myself thin
across the red, blue and gold bicycles,
along the smooth grey concrete stretching
200 yards to Main Hall. Were you not cold?