The afternoon sunlight
highlights her brunette hair
cascading over her brow
and falling over one shoulder
She absently pulls her fingers
through the tangled strands
as she frowns
at the physics textbook before her
The figures spin and intertwine
like the knots in her hair
She longs for a clear explanation
A simple list of instructions
like those in the pages of her Essence magazine
that describe the steps to win a man
and make him yours
She is a blank, pink, soft-cover moleskin journal
Waiting for inspiration
But wait!
A young man toting a matching textbook
walks up to her table
His hair is shaved on the sides
and curly on top
A squeaky clean co-ed
Her face blossoms in a smile
as she recognizes her savior
They sit across the tiny table
Their foreheads almost touch
In his eyes, she sees the formulas
dance and make patterns
and it all begins to make sense
The daunting homework
becomes a lark
They laugh
And the promise of delving into
each others’ mysteries
reading each others’ souls
tingles their fingertips
and tantalizes their toes.
Her journal opens
and a new page begins
in flowing, calligraphic script
with many exclamation points
and dot dot dots