ODE TO ELMIRA COLLEGE

In response to the writing prompt: "Write a poem that incorporates the color purple" on Mama’s Losin it blog

Ode to Elmira College

When arriving at the dorm, 

you’ll know things aren’t quite the norm.

You’ll stop and stare, 

and become aware, 

that there’s purple, PURPLE, everywhere.

Perhaps college funds have been misspent

to paint a purple heating vent.

Groundskeepers wear their purple hats

utilizing purple carts that

create a purple habitat.

You’ll use purple-painted bathroom stalls

while purple salt prevents icey falls.

One walks on purple rugs and floors,

buys purple M&Ms at local stores

and purple paint covers all the doors.

Every fabric, printed or bare,

covers a purple sofa or chair.

Students awake to purple dawns

hearing purple mowers on campus lawns

and use purple-ized Port-a-Johns.

Does it make any sense

to have a purple chain-link fence?

Purple passions do enable

purple linens on dining tables

and purple print on bookstore labels.

In purple-tiled halls, co-eds waddle

sipping from purple water bottles.

Purple AV carts and screens

fill classrooms with purple-tinted scenes

causing troubling purple dreams.

Purple petals on purple flowers

bloom purple blossoms hour by hour.

Am I being a total jerk 

when I begin to eschew and shirk

Elmira’s unusual purple quirk?

I’m sorry, Elmira, but I can’t cope

with dispensers filled with purple soap.

Soon, I admit, I'm not a fan

of purple trash-filled refuse cans

and Elmira-purple minivans.

And who would make such a fuss

to demand a purple-painted bus?

Excessive purply room decor 

is just too much to ignore.

I may shun purple evermore.

It takes only a scant few days

to have your fill of this purple craze.

Purple will become a bore,

something you will soon abhor, 

and then you’ll shout, “No more! No more!”

 

This is all true. You can't make up this stuff, folks. To see more of my photos of Elmira purple, click HERE.