
Writing
Walker Snider
11/1/2021
Lion and Lamb
March came in like a lion that year. In that abandoned old chapel wood shavings littered the shoddy attic floor, and the cherry wood peregrine curios perched, expecting, pretending not to see, and caring not to either. The dark torrent outside pounded, and the faint drip inside knocked. I have to go-she said and kept her eyes pointed down at her work; she shaved away. Why-he asked. I can’t stay here any longer-she took herself up on the desk and up to the open window. She was engulfed in a cloud of avian woodwork and embossed feathers. Don’t go-why-I’m in love with you-I know. All it was was an exchange of words and meanings that matched those words. If you asked him, he had not been crying that day; he just had mild rosacea and a pollen allergy aptly following March leaving like a lamb. For her, at least, he knew it left that way; and for him, at most, it left.
Lauren Maglalang
9/3/2020
“A Change of Heart” (inspired by Pride and Prejudice)
Proposing to Lizzy was a disaster.
Rejection and pain he did feel after.
In shock he listened to her accusations
despite all his feelings of great vexation.
Oh, the embarrassment and despair
that he had felt while standing there!
Pride and arrogance were his bane,
but from these he would later refrain.
At last, Darcy had a change of heart!
From her he did not want to be apart.
Far away went his air of vanity,
replaced by a sense of renewed humanity.
All of this since she had the tenacity
to call him out for his audacity.
By Lizzy, Darcy was forever changed,
and finally their marriage was arranged.
Anonymous
10/4/2021
Life
When you have loss.
you have loved.
You have lived.
And learned.
You laugh.
and cried.
But you have this world.
This beautiful wonderful world.
All the trees and birds.
All full of light.
But the darkness rises.
With every sunrise.
Keep hope alive.
Till the last sunrise.
When it comes all will be light.
The heavens will judge.
Evil will disappear.
And shall you be at peace.
Jesus shall come again.
Till that happens.
Don't be despaired.
Keep love in your heart.
Keep darkness at bay.
Till Jesus comes.
Enjoy the light of day.
The fish in the sea.
The monkeys in the trees.
The nature around.
Enjoy your family and friends.
They will be with you all the way.
Through the dark and light.
Happy and sad.
To give you hope in the hopeless.
But do not despair when they fade away.
They are by your side every day.
Do not cry because.
You have this world.
This beautiful wonderful would.
All the trees and birds.
All full of light.
But the darkness rises.
With every sunrise.
Keep hope alive.
Till the last sunrise.
Because Jesus is alive.
Hope is alive.
Love is alive.
We are alive.
This is Life.
With the hill we climb .
The mountains we move.
Nothing can stop the rage darkness consumes.
If we have hope.
Share that hope .
Hope is the weapon of peace.
Enjoy that hope.
Be the hope in your life.
For this is LIFE.
For life is short.
But be wise.
Soon the heavens will judge.
The dead and alive.
Lauren Maglalang
9/3/2020
A Day Reborn
The dazzling sun climbs the sky
early in the morn.
A new day is created;
a new day is reborn.
Skies are brightly illuminated
with brilliant, blazing hues
as people start to rise
from their well-rested snooze.
People go about
their busy, busy days.
The sun doesn’t go anywhere;
it is there to stay.
Does the sun ever tire
of emitting its incandescence?
Or of persistently glittering
its golden luminescence?
Sometimes strength
is what it needs to regain.
That’s when the sky darkens,
and the clouds make it rain.
As the sun sets,
the sky is painted with vivid light.
Pink, orange, red—
oh, what a sight!
As the sky darkens,
the sun says no goodbye,
for the next morning,
it is waiting to say, “hi.”
Humza Arfeen
8.17.2020
Kristine Sherman
8/17/2020
Midnight
shes there and im not. im not watching a fluorescent light flicker. not hearing its soft buzz. no cold empty corridors. no ceramic tiles clicking under shoes in the distance. no orangish bluish tint to everything around me. no silent tears and soft whimpering. no nurses rushing in and out of the one room that im supposed to be there for. im not listening to the useless ramble of sitcoms on a cheap tv. no subtitles hurrying to catch up. no lingering smell of coffee and sterilizer. no clean and isolated aura. no white walls floors and ceilings. im not smelling the sick in the air. no coughing. no sounds of a nurse hole punching a new chart together. no stained blue chairs that have no comfort. no cold draft and the hum of the air conditioner. no pitying stares. because im. not. there. why wasn't i there? was it denial? was it fear? why was everyone there? everyone except me. why wasn't i crying? i grew up there, yet im so afraid. what happened to my childhood? to holding my grandfather's hand as he completed his surgeon's rounds? to chocolate milk in the cafeteria and patients smiling when I came around? what happened? im so scared. the smells and sounds that once comforted me now loom over watching my every move. and im not there.
Kristine Sherman
8/17/2020
Survive
The brain
It’s an amazing thing
A tool of inspiration
Determination
An explanation
Of why
I try
So many times
To remind
Others that I cannot change who I am
I cannot change my mind so easily
But they don’t listen
Our central nervous system
Reacts the same towards pain
Our nerves acting as telephone wires
Delivering a message
That our safety is dire
Not to hurt ourselves and each other
But we still do
Some people have razors that
Cut the connections
Some people have words that
Makes us believe
We have to make corrections
We act like it’s human nature
Like we can’t stop it
But you can
You just choose to reject it
Everything I say
Everything I do
Will be held against me
In the court of social society
Anxiety
Does not define me
Because I have let go
Of all the things
People have thought of me
Have said to me
Because maybe
Telling people they have a choice
Of how they’re supposed to react to me
Wasn’t the wisest of decisions
Because all school has ever taught me
Was to survive the pain and the entirety
Of my class; my family
Never knew
They told me to ignore them
But that never worked
I’d have to beat them
Myself, alone
Scared, scarred
The two words, defined by one letter
Practically synonymous
Because when have you recalled a time
When you scared and it didn’t scar?
Because all those cuts people inflict upon themselves
Aren’t illnesses
They’re fear
Fear of what’s outside their mind
Fear of what’s inside their mind
Fear of what I now know is society
They preach
What I thought we were supposed to be
I thought we built each other up
But I was wrong
We were knocked down
Like toy blocks
Made of dreams and hopes and aspirations
Exasperation
The fact that I still remember what I thought
When I realized that this world
Isn’t one you are supposed to thrive in
It’s one you are supposed to survive in
And no matter how many speeches you give
Nothing will change the mind of the millennia
Their insults will evolve
Convolve
Revolve
Around you
But you can fight
And most definitely can survive
Because if I know anything about a fight
It’s that we will thrive