To The Boys I Slept With In College (And Some I Actually Liked)
Thank you.
Thank you to the med school student,
Who was charming and smart
And had a great future going for him.
Whose age was too high
And whose hairline was too far back
To be looking at me.
Who wanted me to call him names during sex
That a 25-year-old should not be asking
An 18-year-old to call him.
Yes, you technically happened
The summer before college,
But you haunt my narrative
More than Laura Palmer haunts Twin Peaks.
Thank you to bonfire boy,
Who didn’t want anything more than casual,
And was too ugly for me to take home to mom
But was still nice enough
To buy me Celsius after we hooked up.
Who I wasn’t super into,
But he was tall and skinny,
So I had to know if the rumors were true.
They were true.
You never actually did anything wrong,
I just caught feelings I shouldn’t have
Also, I’m sorry my best friend called you
A rat-faced whore,
And I’m sorry she was right
Thank you to my first college ex,
Who cooked his favorite foods from home for me.
Who always drove and paid,
And who showed me what a true gentleman is.
Sure, you’re so self-aggrandizing
You’d probably suck yourself off if you could,
But you made me paper lilies on Valentine’s Day,
Because lilies are my favorite and paper doesn’t die.
So thanks.
Thank you to the long-distance ex-boyfriend,
The one who wrote “Love ya”
On the Valentine's Day card and roses he sent me.
We broke up before Valentine’s Day.
Who was scared to tell his parents I’m not white.
The one who was so unappealing,
My cousins were genuinely afraid I’d marry him.
You’re racist, your beard is patchy,
And you’re 23 with no driver's license.
Pick a struggle.
Thank you to the boxer,
Who was so similar to me,
It felt like I was talking to a mirror.
Who was kind and smart,
And had biceps as big as his sense of humor.
The one who decided we’re better off “just as friends”,
Then kissed me three days later
While I cried on his couch,
Sobbing about how I just wanted us to work.
I hate to break it to you,
But last time I checked,
Friends don’t normally sleep together.
Thank you to every failed talking stage.
Every awkward wave in the halls,
Every “oh my god, those two know each other.”
Every dorm I left before 7 am.
Thank you to every
Block.
Delete.
And left on “read”.
Without them,
I wouldn’t have learned
To stop putting up with stupidity.
I wouldn’t have learned my own worth.
Without the lows, there aren’t any highs,
And trust me when I say there were many lows.
So for all that I thank you.
Thank you for helping me realize
That, as much as you all kinda sucked in the end,
(And some of you just sucked in general),
I came out of it pretty fucking awesome.
P.S. Thanks to all of them for the acting practice