decided not to spend the summer working in Olympia。 Why not take it one step further and
announce to everyone at graduation that he wasn？t going to college； period。 That would show
Vanessa； and the world； how far he was willing to go？for love。 He would take the road less
traveled by。
Dan turned the page and scribbled the wordsOde on Love ； modeling his new poem on those of
his favorite poet； John Keats。 Keats wrote odes all the time： ？Ode to Psyche；？ ？Ode on a Grecian
Urn；？ ？Ode to a Nightingale；？ ？Ode on Melancholy；？ but never an ？Ode on Love。？ So why
shouldn？t Dan be the one to do it？
？Seventeen minutes to go；？ Ms。 Solomon called out。 Dan glanced up at the stiff backs of his
classmates bent over their desks； pens working frantically as the black wall clock ticked the
minutes by。 He went back to his blue book。 ？Ode on Love。？ Of course； his love for Vanessa was
mixed with a heavy dose of undying lust。 But how to convey that without sounding pornographic？
After all； the poem was supposed to be part of his graduation speech。
Your milky white orbs；
The pillows of your stomach；
Thighs like birches。
Ew； enough！！
He drew a heavyX across the words。The pillows of your stomach？ Yuck。
Exactly。
Then he remembered the lines from ？Ode on a Grecian Urn？：
More happy love！ more happy； happy love！
Forever warm and still to be enjoyed
Forever panting； and forever young；
All breathing human passion far above；
That leaves a heart high…sorrowful and cloyed；
A burning forehead and a parching tongue。
Was there any better way to say it？
Probably not。
Dan began to sketch a picture of the water tower