Contrast: A Poem

Contrast is the smiling yellow dog against the oil-stained pavement
You focus on the image which is meant to preclude all discomfort,
Your caption isolates the quality of appeal,
a tenuous pretension of goodness and betterment 

And yet do the cracks and blemishes loom out of focus,
does the dream of perfection contrast with the crude realities 
Like a snapshot of a smiling child buried in a burned scrapbook,
Do the dormitories and halls house people or violations of human dignity 
Or is that not the caption we desire? 

When you get to campus you feel the excitement all around you
Contrast is when you conveniently forget how cold it is out there

Contrast is when you walk off campus and fear 
When you can feel the desperation in the air


Do we want to live in one Instagram story of safety and happiness, 
Or realize how close we are to the bolded lines of danger?
When it is cold outside, do you hide away 
or do you bring warmth for the cold? 

-Kurt Brown
Public Safety Associate Director (18-19)
kurt.brown@uoflelsb.org