Author: Tyler Davis

"May I introduce Lover of cats, Junior of MSA, Consumer of Mac&Cheese, Challenger of Normalcy, Original Disney Channel Enthusiast, and the Poet and Author of 'Writer's Block', Tyler Renee"... This would be my intro if I was a character on Game of Thrones.

Janey Laine Aron aka J-Dogge

She is the definition of assertive.

(see the 2nd Urban Dictionary Definition)

You will Run along the path with her

Your breathing ragged

You will watch the puff of warm leave her lips as she runs

She is faster than you and you do not mind

You fall behind and watch as she goes faster now than before.

You will remember when you sat next to her in the classroom

Her opinions loud and confident

She is not wrong

She will never be wrong

She will tell you her secret

Don’t Tell, but Show.

You try it out and the effects are strange

You used to be shy and wrong

Now she is right and so are you

But it is hard for both to be right so you give in

You are shy and wrong again

J-Dogge is right

Now there are Ripples in your life

You see the effects taking hold

She once said 2+2= Fish

So now you answer all your math questions with Fish

You are Spinning as she runs circles around you

She tells you to look deeper into the mist

And you tell her All I See (And All I Don’t)

She tells you there are werewolves

And she is always right so you agree

But yesterday you saw a glint of confusion and for a moment she was wrong

~

This is just a series on the the people in my class and the things about them I notice.

5/13

Jackson Henry Palmer aka Juicy Boy

He is the very definition of straightforward.

(see the 2nd Urban Dictionary Definition)

He will sit next to you in your class

You will copy some of his answers for the big math test

He will, in turn, loudly call you out for cheating in every conversation there after

You will laugh and blow him off

Take it like salt water and vomit an apology

He will laugh

You will laugh

Later on that night, you will tell him good Morning

He will tell you to read a Newspaper and learn the facts.

You will fix him Soup and say that The Beatles broke up in September 1969.

He will eat his food Alone tonight.

He does not need your pity; he knows when the end is near.

Give him time to sort out if this is what he wants

Realize it probably isn’t.

He didn’t ask for salad only Peanuts.

Tell him he is cool

But only like 43% of the time

The other 57% of the time he scares you

He will apologize

Take it like sugar water and swallow.

He will sit next to you in class.

He will not have correct answers

You will not cheat off of his paper

Juicy Boy- aka Jackson Palmer- always circles B

~

This is just a series on the the people in my class and the things about them I notice.

4/13

Timera Jasmin Gaston aka Timmy-T

She is the definition of contradictory.

( see the 6th urban dictionary definition)

You will find her wearing black at the alter.

You will play her a song composed of only Korean words she does not know.

She will turn down the volume so she can see the lyrics and smell the rhythm.

You will make her enchiladas but she’ll only eat them if you freeze them.

She will ask for ice cream just be sure to boil it before you serve her.

Drive her to Spanish Class on your shared unicycle.

This is where you both learned, “Ella estuvó un gato durante su vida pasada.”

She will speak fluent Spanish as a second language and stutter over simple English as a first language.

She will wear a bathing suit in the snow and a snow suit to the beach

Accept her strange to be the new normal

Everyday with her is Opposite Day and this year she wants to ride the Kid Friendly Bumper Cars

Tell her Maybe and she will do it anyways

There is no room for possibilities here.

There is always the Beeping of an alarm clock to wake up to tomorrow

So tonight she will ask for you to unplug it.

~

This is just a series on the the people in my class and the things about them I notice.

3/13

Madison Claire Reams aka Claire-Bear

She is the definition of sweet.

(see the 7th urban dictionary definition)

When she walks by appreciate the difference in her from the other girls in your class.

See the bounce in her step and watch as she giggles a melody that will be forever stuck in your head.

Remember how cotton candy seemed salty that day at the fair and then remember that she is the sweetest thing you have ever known.

She will tell you that she loves the ocean and swimming is her passion.

So pack the car and take a trip south or west or north or east- where ever you can to find Something Real for her.

Take her to the beach and watch as she stands with her toes caressed by the ocean.

Tell her she makes you want to write and talk about Love and Stuff

Tell her you would cross Oceans for her.

Tell her – your Claire Bear – How you couldn’t image a life in which she was not there.

She is one of many Blessings you have been gifted.

Make sure you fail chemistry and when your parents talk about hiring a tutor mention her.

Fail to mention she doesn’t take the class anymore.

Fail to mention that she makes it hard to focus

Fail to mention that the only chemistry-related topic she makes you think of are Chemical Constants

Remember every December 2nd to give her a teddy bear- remember she loves them.

~

This is just a series on the the people in my class and the things about them I notice.

2/13

Zoe Mckenzie Conner aka Z-MOney

She is the very definition of angst.

(And If you don’t know what angst is I suggest using the 4th  Urban Dictionary Definition . )

Look into her eyes and watch as angsty tears fall like snow on your drive way

Realize it is Summer and her tears aren’t snow but ash from the volcano down the street.

Realize you are not in your driveway but in the home of Z-MOney where things aren’t always what they seem

But then realize you forgot to Milk The Duck. 

Z-MOney  aka Zoe Conner likes all the Lost Dimensions Of You to be flayed and set out to dry.

But be sure you don’t recite Pretty Poetry  in her presence what do you think this is- Thailand?

Sometimes things might get Out Of Hand but don’t forget this is her world she calls the shots.

When she calls, give her Half-Eaten Apples but only ones that are purple.

Tear off the petals to lilies and give her the stem, she’ll tell you them make a nice stew

When she offers you bismuth subsalicylate, take it with pears and mayo.

Don’t upset the sleeping bear, it’ll all go down-hill if you do.

Z-MOney takes no hostages; you will be crushed by the avalanche that follows.

Just remember- Z-MOney aka Zoe Mckenzie Conner likes all her ducks milked and her ends infinite.

~

This is just a series on the the people in my class and the things about them I notice.

1/13

“friENDs”

Often I realize that the people here with me now, will not be with me forever. The people who I will grow to be friends with. The ones I will create inside jokes with. I will spend countless hours working on Coffee Houses and creating poems with these people only for the memory of our friendships to dissipate.

We will probably have movie nights together and go on Literary Trips. We may spend late nights together studying for science tests or choral reading our writing texts books. But are we truly friends? Can we truly be friends if we can so quickly forget each other?

Maybe we will keep in touch after our graduation. Maybe we will all go out to each at Golden China and go thrifting like we did for our first of many Literary Trips. Maybe we all will tell stories and relive our high school years together.

Or maybe we will forget the two years we spent together. Maybe we will forget to tell our children the stories from our years together. Maybe we won’t return for our Reunions.

Who can really tell where things will end for us?

Identity Crisis

When I look into a mirror, I do not see me. I see two extreme versions of myself. One is an African American girl- her hair is a kinky curly Afro crown upon her head, her eyes a deep dark, coffee brown. The other is a Caucasian girl- her hair pin straight and a fiery red, her eyes a grassy green.

These versions of myself are forever arguing. Always fighting for control.

It is difficult being both the slave and the slave master. Hard being both the oppressor and the oppressed. How do I make the most out of being biracial when half of me is fighting the other?

And I don’t think my parents even realize that they birthed a Civil War.

My body is the war zone. You can see dead slaves in my eyes and hear their cries for freedom in my heartbeat. You can feel the beatings given by slave owners in my hands and can taste the privilege on my lips.

But you wouldn’t notice the war. Only the red curls and the patches of freckles. You dream of having mixed children of your own- not because you love someone of another race but because mixed kids look aesthetically pleasing.

You spend all your time “hearting” images of mixed babies on Instagram and mix and matching features from all the races as to create the “perfect” mixed child.

It was you who created this war. You who asked me, “What are you?” You who told me, “You should have been born white.” You who said, “You act more black than white.”

You will deny your affiliation with the war. Because of course, you “don’t see race.” And you “aren’t racist.”

I never said you were. But the fact is- you formed a box around my race. Told me I have to act a certain way. Said that if I happened to enjoy basketball that must be the black side of me. Said that if I drank Starbucks then I’m more white.

I am so tired of the war- of my identity crisis.

Because whether or not you notice it, I am human.

To Put A Writer’s Soul To Rest

There is something magical about my literary classroom. Something about the giant windows, the dark wooden floors, the red mushroom lamp. There is something about the way the beige walls and the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards  posters stare back at you. There is something about the endless sounds of typing and creaks in the floorboards that puts a writer’s soul to rest.

There is something awful in the way coffee smells in the afternoon and how eyes burn form staring at a bright computer screen for hours on end. Something about how your fingers begin to cramp from typing. Something about the way your shoulders slouch under the weight of an impending deadline.  There is something about the panic of having only today to finish an assignment that puts a writer’s soul to rest.

There is something infuriating about the untended bookshelf that is collapsing under the weight of books stacked miles high and the leaky Keurig that keeps so many awake. Something about the conflicting opinions that makes your head begin to ache. Something about the criticism that makes you roll your eyes. There is something about the computer shutting down before you can save your work that puts a writer’s soul to rest.

There is something about my literary classroom. Something magical. Something infuriating. Something awful.

Something that puts my soul to rest.

8 Times I Realized I Loved You

  1. I sat outside of our school. The breeze nice and warm. You stood across the foyer, watching- waiting for the right moment to introduce yourself. Corbin, a mutual friend, approached me and you saw your chance. You came over loudly and clumsily almost knocking over Corbin and I. I blushed when you played with my stray curls. I complained and apologized about the mess my hair had become. You disagreed and said you liked the mess.
  2. You called me late one night- at 2:39 a.m. When I asked you why you called, you said you just wanted to hear my voice. And so we stayed up for 4 more hours talking about our parents, our friends, our dreams for the future.
  3. Joseph was a friend of mine. A friend who did not know the boundaries but a friend all the same. His lips pressed against my forehead once and you caused an uproar that lasted days on end.
  4. You skipped class a lot. Skipped the bus to Votech way too often. Instead of catching the bus to our sister school to learn about which welding position you preferred, you sat outside of my JROTC class and waited for me.
  5. You broke your phone- threw it at a wall or punched it. We had no way of communicating when not in the same class. But you found a way- borrowed your cousins’ phones, tablets, computers.
  6. Nightmares plagued my sleep. I didn’t want to bother you but one night, I called you crying. You told me to call you if I ever woke up like that again. You told me that you would be there for me.
  7. There was an art school that I wanted to attend but attending would imply more distance between us. I told you about my hesitation to apply. You shared with me your fears but encouraged me to apply anyways saying, “We’ll handle that when we get there.” I got in. I am attending. And it is because of you.
  8. Right now. This very moment. And every moment before and after. I Love You.