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.

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.”

An Eye Opened to the World

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