I love you students of bone

and bed-head, students pierced

and frozen lipped, serious students

in platform boots and fishnets,

I love you owl-obsessed students

stoned and giggling, rumpled sweater

punk rock glaring, scissor armed

students, covertly scarred students,

students self monikered: this means you

Starship, Tigerlily, Foxtrot, Alpha,

and Jerome, even you, Jerome,

I love you students of thrift rags and fibre,

pajama pant students mute and red-

headed with esoteric knowledge of camera

obscura, students vaudevillian and vague,

acne stippled, slouching, busty-flat students,

verbose and broken English students,

somebody else’s broken children students,

I love you students of peacock-blue

eye shadow and patchy beard,

amorphous boy-girl students,

shutterbug, stuttering, dawn of the dead

students with hearts swollen fat

with loneliness and longing, aching

students of empty holiday dorm rooms,

no plane ticket home students, small town

nowheresville students, welcome home,

students, here you are so loved.