it was in the baby days of the blue media
& we were walking around orientation
crystal faces emerged from the cave
expecting bats & bruises     all existential
games   ice-breakers    fun facts  we were
leaving a four-year institution     we were
anticipating belonging to our minds
and enslaved by the neurons   that era
was another step up the staircase   going
into the union the first time   a cop told
us a story about being raped in an alley
telling boys college might not be safe
while women walked by   he eyed them

(originally published in Communicators League, Spring 2020)