“Margaret” — original song by Jet X.

For his first assignment in ENGL 171LE, the Song Lyric Analysis, Jet decided to analyze the construction of his original song, “Margaret.”

Welcome to I.V.

July 17, 2021

There’s people here today
That’ve never been before
This town that I call my own
This town that I am
I know it so well
It is the back of my hand

And this place looks brand new to them
It’s a bright sunny Saturday
For Pete’s sakes
And they see me in my hawaiian
Red vintage sunnies
Two books open, writing in one
2 drinks- coffee black & iced green matcha

And I hear a parent say,
“I approve-this...Santa Barbara!”
And I think about their excitement
And how some days, I’m living what they’re dreaming

This sunny life in this Saturday town
The best town to have a weekend in
Or sleep in in
To the sound of the waves
Or see so many waves throughout the day
Of all the many people you know
Cozied up tightly, confines of this two square mile town

And oh, the things you’ll learn, the things you’ll learn How to do
How to love, how to hurt, how to write
How to fight and how to help
How to teach, how to share, how to how
This is what I would tell all the freshman
Families around me
But I’ll just sip my matcha
Keep my thoughts internal
And let them find out for themselves

For I love you Ally

You sat in lotus your knees touching mine on your soft bed with the salty sea breeze slowly seeping through the window ever so slightly grease in our stomachs bleach coating our throats the after drip sometimes fun sometimes not so fun to swallow hearts slowing down nasals only partially clogged thanks to the Afrin that I called a free dome a drug of its own we looked into each other’s eyes no music no lights save for the rotating luminescence emanating unto your bathroom ceiling the room adjacent your roommate adjacent your roommate okay with your room to ourselves just for the night just for a night just because it feels good you said you’re kissing me just because it feels good why feel the need to say anything at all we said nothing at all as we tried not to laugh as I tried not to say you know what I know you already know the unspoken yet to be spoken scared of hearts yet to be broken you tilt your head one degree left one degree left for me too it’s opposite that way I match your pseudo solemn gaze no laughter now no way now we’ve settled into ourselves into our souls whose goal it is to leave us one degree to the right now I do the same one degree to the right now do you feel the same as I do right now as our heads millimeter forward with each passing minute wondering when it’s gonna happen one degree south your eyes look down at my lips that I’m trying not to tremble I look to your temple I read somewhere it intimidates I’ve never felt so intimate as our foreheads touch and foreground recedes and all the few colors become one and then none as we become one with our souls transmogrified and then some thing patters my heart more than the usual effect from the drug yes I think it’s you know what as I try to communicate with my micro expressions and the attempted control of my pupil dilation do you remember prom do you remember Maddy’s car in the night with the breeze and the fright of the most important in the moment flying out before our very eyes as you hurt the cause and laughed maniacally distraught with M83 blaring through the mesh screens of the Toyota speaker as we wondered far subconsciously what our futures entailed do you remember that do you remember getting along with me far better than anybody else anybody else’d be jealous to see what we have we’re so hot and you’re so cool you know that too but what are we to do when I don’t even know how to tell you without telling you so I just look into your eyes and try to tell you with every slight change of body language and lip tremble and smiling squint as we look so close to each other our minds touch and your cyclops eye wonders back at me as I wonder if it’s sending its own telepathy and then I can’t take it anymore so I lean in in in in in and you lean back but not back forwards as you reciprocate just for the night I’ll be gone in the day after sleeping in the same bed the farthest possible distance away but I still put my hand around your waist and you in your sleep maybe not maybe just semi consciously move it to your chest trying to find the physicality between us that feels best but I can’t rest I can’t sleep but awake I dream with you next to me I dream of all those nights and this night repeat I wish to repeat I wish to be with you my love for I love you for I am in love with you for I love you Ally.

Salma R.

In Week 5, we discussed 18th-century letter-writing and how both the function and form of the letter differed slightly from today. Salma took the initiative to learn the 15th-century tuck-and-fold method for sending a letter, and produced the most beautiful set of images of her process! View her images below: