Noah Salzameda
Poetry
The Monster
A friend's whole body wearing timbs,
red eyes,
and extremely long hands.
Crazy, right?
Something that starts off normal
turns into something extraordinarily creepy.
It’s funny how one stupid picture
can tell a lot about a person.
Photoshop,
the magic of photoshop.
It’s one of the most interesting things in the world
and can make anything normal
completely weird.
Like
for instance,
a friend doing a goofy pose —
you take a little bit of work and some stock images online
and blam
you got yourself a star.
A diamond in the ruff.
You take your little ideas in your head
and it ends up being one of the most freeing things you can do.
It’s incredibly stupid and weird
but, to be honest,
that’s what you love about it.
You wonder how these dumb ideas pop into your head
but you love using them.
It’s like your own form of art,
your own little
I’M DIFFERENT
EVERYONE LOOK AT ME!
The type of work that your confused mother would stick on her fridge
and take down a week later
when you weren’t paying attention.
But still you create and keep creating
and one piece after another
the ideas keep coming
and then
one day your friend
with the a pair of timberlands,
beady red eyes,
and extremely long hands.
And you realize that you feel better —
so much better.
Creative Nonfiction
Letter to Self
Dear Noah Matthew Salzameda,
This is a cliche. It’s something I’d never think I would write about. Most importantly it’s really silly. Still, this is something I really need to do. I need to let this out before I over dramatize everything. I need to start with the first step. How is your day, me-three and a half years from now? You’re probably saying, “Who cares? I need to get out of Damascus and live my life.” You’re so right. I hope you have the same ambition I do, right now, at the moment I’m writing this piece. I hope you’re everything we had imagined. I know I was not the most important, successful and popular kid there, but I hoped you worked hard every day. Let’s hope you strived for everything and that your goals had been achieved. That's all I can possibly hope for.
Who’s your friends these days? Did we expand our range? I sure hope so. You probably will deny this, but they got you through. I hope wherever they end up you still keep in touch.
What are you going for? I know college was not your first option. Maybe things changed and we wised up. Or are you taking the army path? That would be pretty interesting to be honest. What about the workforce? Who knows? Whatever you’re doing please don’t be stuck in Damascus; that’s not a good choice at all. You’re probably saying to yourself “This is still you, you made this decision.” I will tell you that you had more experience than anything I will ever get. Are you still writing? I know it’s not always your favorite thing but, who knows, a lot can change.
I’m laughing while writing this but I have to ask, are we a hit with the ladies as a senior? I know I’m not a Casanova right now, but weirder things have happened. Having a love life sounds nice and all, but some people think it’s bad, like putting all your trust on a shooting star. That sounds extremely desperate. Please tell me we don’t still sound like that. I know I’m rambling but I get worried about our future. Let’s hope when I’m reading this I have some idea of what I want to do.
I wonder what my mindset is for the future is right now. Am I ready? Am I prepared for the future and everything that will surround it? These are questions I hope you can answer clearly, and in my case truthfully.
If I know myself, which I hope I do, you’re probably laughing and saying “This is all nonsense. Who in the hell would care? This is still your life too.” To that I say you’re a wise man who should know better and before you hopefully graduate you should go out and do something that scares you. Enjoy your time before you start your adult life. Invite some friends and enjoy every second before everybody will split their separate ways. It's something you need to do. In fact it’s something you have to do.
So as you go out into the world you are considered to be an adult. You may not like it, you may not even have the mindset, but it’s here and it sucks. It’s time for you to grow up. If you’re past self has any words of advice I will tell you this: don’t let your life become the Jets 2017-18 season: so promising, but ending up worse than you expected. You owe it to your parents and certain teachers, and the 1% that believed and hopefully still does, that you can do something with your life. Please make them proud. And for God sake please do something special for both of us and for your future! God bless your soul and have a great life.
One more thing as I leave you on your way to the rest of your life. Please try to be the best version of yourself. I know that it might sound easy or even kinda simple to do, but as I had previously stated before, life gets hard. That sounds like a cat hanging on the tree type of poster. It sounds definitely cringeworthy, but in the end it’s so important to not lose yourself. You wanted to go to New York and I hope you do. Unlike your cat posters, you need to realize your limitations and find a job that will actually suit you. Work your way up because the only way down from the top is just exactly that, straight down. It's like the way to where you began on Shoots and Ladders. Knowing our rotten luck, it usually goes screwy for us.
Let's hope everything will end up like it’s supposed to. You can only leave it up to fate. Now what are you still doing here? You have places to be and people to see. It’s time to get at it. It’s time to set sail, and live your life to each millisecond with happiness. Time to have a clear head and a full heart. I wish you good luck on your future endeavors and trials on the journey we know as life. You are a hitchhiker on this crazy trip, but it’s time to build up and work hard.
