UC Davis Magazine Online
Volume 18
Number 2
Winter 2001
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Features: Aquifears | Campus at Night


Campus at Night

“Let there be light” — from the UC Davis seal in front of the Memorial Union

Follow me
through these words, a shadow
among shadows
in a diminutive city
where sound builds
upon sound--a network
of circuitry whirs like cards
spinning in bike spokes, whirling
circulation units chirp
intermittently,
mechanical crickets.

Among the raw suction clicks
of door latches, someone plays
piano scales, then
one long rest note.

A pale girl dances, pirouettes
in dim, fluorescent light.

A cell phone rings in
the distance; sirens whine in answer.

Orphan bikes in odd postures
blink red eyes--one
zigzags
            the yellow line
home.

Follow me,
a shadow among shadows,
to the onyx lake, its gold mosaic
face breaks up
when fish come up to feed.
Street lamps cast amber
on black bark, datura blooms bask
in eerie greenhouse auras.

The animals don't seem to sleep.
Ducks preen, peck at bugs
in artificial light that fades
speckled breast feathers.
Untethered, horses nuzzle
straw and manure, shuffle
in their stalls.
The hog barn door
            is left ajar--
black rubber boots stand
ready in a square of light.

Seedlings and frayed-thread
weeds thrive in Petri dishes
enclosed in temp-control
growth chambers.

One green eye glares
through warning
infrared: creating integrated
circuits, sand into ingots--
unknown particles unwelcome
where liquid crystal's grown.
Soon, life will enter in
a sterile gown.

Follow me down
a path lit by rows of low,
glowing moons where light
wind lifts magnolia leaves.
A stray cat claims the stairwell
and in the L-shape
of blue haze windows, a lone
worker stares at a bluer screen.

The building, a shadow
among shadows--all angles
and alcoves, edges etched
against the infinite
interrogative--reaches
for points of light
scattered like brilliant answers
in the far-flung darkness.

Photo of a flower at night





Photo of the firehouse at night





Photo of a row of bikes bathed in amber light





Photo of a Unitrans bus at night

— Virginia Whitney Weigand
November 6, 2000
For my night guide, John Najar, who holds the keys to the city

Virginia Whitney Weigand '00 is a member of the Swan Scythe Press editorial board, a poetry chapbook press in Davis. She has received several honors for her poetry, including an honorable mention in The Atlantic Monthly's 1999 writers' competition; the 2000 Ina Coolbrith Memorial Prize for Poetry, a statewide competition; and the Celeste Turner Wright Prize for poetry, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets. One night in November, she joined John Najar, campus mechanical and electrical operation repairman, for a tour of UC Davis after dark.

PHOTOS BY DEBBIE ALDRIDGE, UC Davis Information Technology Digital Media Center

 

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