Buffalo Seminary - Seminaria Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

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SEMINARIA IQ43 25 'l'l1nuqh I Shall Nut Be N ear Thee HONORABLE MENTION I was new at the Miss Regent's school. I walked up the broad, elmflined path, gazed at the grey stone mansion, and decided that it was a very pleasant school. Everyone was cordial. Miss Regent, a duplicate of my favorite aunt, looked at me with lovely greenfblue eyes. Well, Babs, I hope you like us as much as we expect to like you. I hoped so, too. This was Sunday morning and she introduced me to several of the girls sitting on the tufted grass or floating idly in the sheeny pool. Yes, I liked them-Betty, Alice, Patty, Jean, and Shirley, all were bright lively girls whom you would recognize as funflovers anywhere. They certainly did not believe in formality. Babs, do you like swimming? Do you play hockey? Do you know anyone at Harvard?-Dartmouth?-Yale? Do come take a sunbath! Then I asked one question, just one. By the way, who's going to be my roommate? Silence. Silence for a long, long time. Then-anxious grins of various degrees of sincerity accompanied the sudden burst of conversation. She's awfully nice-and cute-and sweet. Here she comes. I looked around at the lone Ggure gliding down the path. She wore her clothes beautifully. Her face, a little plump, held a beatific smile. How sweet, I thought, how very sweet. As she drew nearer, she held out her hand. In a clear, bellflike voice floated the words, Why, you must be Babs. My name is Gwendolyn Williams. We're to be roommates. She was beautiful to me just then, although, as soon as she left, I could not visualize her. That very afternoon, we set up housekeeping. Gwendolyn, although she had already moved in, had graciously saved the better bureau and softer bed for me. When I thanked her, she smiled, That's all right. You're new. She helped me put away my things and offered to show me around school. Then she insisted on helping me study for I had entered a week after the term had begun. By bedftime she looked more ethereal than ever, in a weary sort of way. Instead of being grouchy or gruff, she merely smiled. At the same time that I congratulated myself on having such an evenftempered roomfmate, I asked a few questions such as, What's the catchy how long does the good luck hold out? I discovered the answer

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24 SEMINARIA 1943 when she was downtown with Mother, she saw a large, burly policeman sitting on a horse. As she crossed the street, she went up to him and asked, Do little girls -ever ride that horse? whereupon the policeman swung her into the saddle and rode with her down Main Street several blocks. Last year, after she went to the Christmas pageant at church, she wanted to be an angel. Grandma made her avpair of paper wings, and pinned them on her dress. When I came home, I found her lying on her round, little stomach, sobbing piteously. She looked up at me and said in a voice both poignant and wistful, But, Martha, I have wings, and I can't fly. MARTHA Cormzss, '45 MY HORSE Under color of old ivory Your muscles flow like cream, You wear satin for a garment, Without Wrinkle or a seam Which molds itself to beauty, As ripples to a stream. Heavilyfhoofed, you barely roughen The turf on which you stand, While your lip, exploring, finds The curved palm of my hand For the notfinfrequent sugar That is your sole demand. Lay a muzzle soft as satin On rough tweed, and undeterred, Flip your ears and gently nibble A boot no longer spurred, You and I have swom alliance Without need of any word. ARLINE SNYDER, '44

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26 SEMINARIA IQ43 within the next few days: Gwendolyn was a martyr. She and the Last Duchess had much in common, for Gwendolyn, too, smiled, no doubt, Whene'er I passed her, but who passed without Much the same smile? As the days crept by, my annoyance at her increased, and yet she continued to be the dearest, most considerate friend a person could have. If I decided to go skating, and did not invite her along, I did not get reproaches, I got a smile. If I did not clean up my part of the room, I would return to a shining room and an equally shining Gwen who would ask if there were anything she could do for me. Finally, I had to admit to myself that she was thoroughly distasteful to meg in fact, I hated her. Whereas she had seemed ethereal, she now looked like some sleek Gargoyle whose face is carved into an everlasting leer. I began to interpret all her actions towards me as mocking and resentful. At night, if she appeared in my dreams, it would be as a witch, with her sweet face slightly altered till it had a round, nasty, smiling, cynical, supercilious, sneering expression. I looked for the symf pathy in the faces of the other girls which they so willingly gave. I tried snubbing herg it did no good. I tried to forget the past and look at her anew, it did no good. I tried to be pleasant, to hide my feelings entirely, it certainly did no good. I was very fortunate in that the school year was comparatively short. I kept myself busy as best I could-swimming, taking frequent trips to town, and stay' ing with the other girls. I grew patient and resigned. Small lines of misery and selffpity soon appeared on my face, but as soon as I realized what a martyr I was becoming, I quickly recovered. About an hour each evening I spent in the sound- proof music room. Here I would bang on the piano, yelling and scolding at the blank wall all the while. Here I would release all the steam I had accumulated during the day. Most of all, here I kept a calendar, counting ten times an evening the little red numbers that constituted the remainder of school. One month, three weeks, ten days-for some strange reason the time flew by. I found out that Gwendolyn had to leave half a day early in order to meet her parents-I banged on the piano for only half an hour that night. I grew more and more cheerful as the last day approached. I awoke the final moming, radiant. I helped her pack. I said Goodbye, and It certainly has been fun. As she smiled sweetly I almost let go, but not quite. I stood at the top of the stairs and watched her go down. I raced to the window and gleefully watched the graceful, hated Hgure disappear along the broad, elmflined walk. I watched the tiny speck ride away in a taxi. Then I looked up, conscious of what had passed out of my life. I let out a' whoop, and, diving onto the bed, I hugged the blue and white ticking of