Raven
the
WINTER 2020
Camryn Bruno INTERVIEW WITH
CONTENTS VENESSA'S NOTE
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LOST WITHIN MYSELF
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WHITE LIGHTS IN DARK ROOMS
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SENIOR REALITY
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INTERVIEW WITH CAMRYN BRUNO
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BITTERSWEET IN ITS DISAPPEARANCE
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THE TRUE VALUE OF MONEY
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EDITOR IN CHIEF/WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE VENESSA M MARCO EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/PRINCIPAL ERIN GARRY STAFF WRITERS BAL RAVEN ZINE & LIT CLASS STUDENTS ART DIRECTOR CHRISTINA KIEL
CONTACT US BRONX ACADEMY OF LETTERS 339 MORRIS AVENUE BRONX, NY 10451 WWW.BRONXLETTERS.ORG
Finally... our first issue of The Raven has arrived. It has been such an exciting and innovative process to comb through the submissions. A lot of late-night editing and brainstorming sessions.
I am eager not just for this issue but for what it will invite in the future. It's hard to imagine creating a magazine from scratch. I noticed my Raven writers getting increasingly overwhelmed by the amount of writing it requires, but still being up to the task. I am grateful to be part of the journey. To be invited as a passenger to your vulnerability, and help guide you towards discovering new creative interests. This is just the beginning! A small sample of a much bigger project. Please keep in mind that submissions are not limited to students of The Raven, but are welcomed from all BAL students. Please take the time to read these stories with an open heart. Often we experience fear while sharing ideas, beliefs, even our dreams. We need a community to uplift us. Although, I’ve only been a part of The Bronx Academy of Letters for a few months now, I feel very welcomed and honored to be a part of your family. I trust that you all will show these students the encouragement they deserve.
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With Love, Venessa M Marco Writer-in-Residence/Editor in Chief
n i th i W t s Lo Myself
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BY Eyahna Collazo
Knife falling out of my hand I look down at my hands which are bloody red I snap out of my trance and look down My father, I see lying lifeless on the ground, shirt filled with blood This wouldn’t have happened if you were in my life You chose your fate This nightmare replays Maybe if you would have taken care of me the way a father is supposed to do this wouldn’t happened My mother gave you everything and you just vanished My mother is my father She stepped up and did a man’s job Your job The last thing I can say is that you’ve failed as a father Growing up watching my friends with their father would make me emotional because that’s something I don’t have
When I feel like I’m falling, my mother is there to catch me Always She provided and hugged, Supported and loved, Gave me the world She sacrificed it all so that I could have a better life Because of you I have never wanted for more Just because I did not have a father Does not mean I am parentless I love you mom
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ELENA BERNA RD EZ I live in a doorway Between heaven and hell Where the devil and god has their own space Hell has bodies all over the room Souls sucked up like a vacuum Dreams and memories gulped like blood Shadows of darkness Fear of being buried alive With no flowers
YOUR SON TOO SCARED TO SEE YOU FLAT UNDERNEATH THE TOMBSTONE Darkness in me around my chest Inside my eyes I see the dark forest Everything else leaves But the darkness tries to escape Release itself So it could look for the next souls to haunt for life Ancestors guide me But I won’t listen to them They try to tell me there is something right behind you In the other room
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Healing Trust A waterfall of holy water A big cross up in the ceiling in the middle of heaven To keep Hell from entering inside their home Life Strong and kind-hearted
Senior Reality
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By Pablo Arcos Romero
This is my senior year, but it doesn’t feel like it.
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Since freshman year I would imag-
For me, it could be my grades pushing
ine my senior year to be more lit. I
me down to be excited for this year
thought the graduation class would
but I’m just not feeling it so far. I’m
be closer but that’s not the case. I’ve
not seeing any senior spirit, everyone
played my part and now have to work
just looks depressed, and I have no
harder than ever this school year if I
idea what goes on in their personal
want to achieve my goal of graduat-
lives. One good thing I can say about
ing on time with my class. I’ve been
school is that it’s taught me how to
at The Bronx Academy of Letters since
deal with people more than anything
6th grade, and I think most of the
that I ́ve learned in a classroom. That
seniors would agree with me that the
includes how to deal with drama,
years have flown by very fast. Every-
learning to be more emphatic, how to
one has a different perspective when
be more professional, and not let my
it comes to senior year. Some look
emotions get the best of me. I haven’t
forward to it because they’ve had
been the best person that I could be
high grades in the four years and are
these past three years, but I ́ve looked
just ready for their next step in life.
at my flaws and try to improve myself
Some just don’t like school but they
day by day, and as cliche, as it sounds I
are finally leaving this year. There are
see a better man every day in the mir-
also people including me that have
ror. At the end of the day all the class
not done well in school and have no
of 2020 we should all come together
idea what their next chapter in life
and leave a mark in the school.
after high school will be. Also, coming from a family of immigrant parents their expectation is for me to go to college, that’s the whole point of having brought me into this country.
Usually, the perception of being a senior is that this is supposed to be the best year of your life.
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Camryn Bruno AN INTERVIEW WITH
CAMRYN IS THE 2018-2019 NYC YOUTH POET LAUREATE, THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FIRST CITIZENS NATIONAL POETRY SLAM CHAMPION OF 2017 AND THE MS. TOBAGO HERITAGE PERSONALITY QUEEN OF 2017. SHE IS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AND IS A TWO-TIME PARTICIPANT OF THE BRAVE NEW VOICES INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL.
How did it feel to become the 2019 Youth Poet Laureate of NYC? I was so relieved! I was working so hard to get on the NYC Slam team and I didn’t make it. I decided to put my best foot forward in hopes of something positive. I went into the competition with humility and I sacrificed a lot- learned a few lessons along the way. I was so happy to know that all my hard work paid off.
When did you first acknowledge you were a writer? I first acknowledged I was a writer when I went to my first writing workshop. Funny enough I didn’t even like participating in English and literature class but that workshop really opened my eyes to the world of writing.
How long does it take for you to write a poem? It depends. I’m a huge procrastinator so I
usually end up writing pieces the night before it’s due- but if I’m writing something for a high profile event, I usually write a week or two before I need it (once I write the poem in less than a day, I take the rest of the time editing and reworking the concepts).
Do you ever feel self-conscious about your writing or performances? Sometimes, I think it comes from knowing how weighted and impactful my messages can be, and afraid that my work may change a person’s ideology (good or bad) or that my work can be too dense or too weighted for certain audiences making them uncomfortable.
Does performing add to your poetry or do you feel it takes away from it? I write two types of poetry- page poetry and stage poetry. I feel like they both come from different sides of me. My page poetry
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What inspires you the most?
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is sometimes the things that I don’t want to say aloud but things I want people to read and reflect on. While, my performance poetry is for my audience to feel something and create conversations around it. I only add performance to my poems if I really need to or if I need to enhance my work. I write performance poetry because I need to add something special to my page poetry. If that makes sense.
How has slamming impacted you? Slamming has impacted me in good ways and bad. The slam culture can be very taxing on mental health because ‘you’re in it to win it’ and we tend to lose the real essence of the message- while slamming has given me the opportunity to meet people, create long lasting friendships and I’ve won some money while doing it. Slamming is an opportunity to get good exposure!
What is your favorite writing spot? My favorite writing spot is my bed. Hands down. I usually write late at night or early in the morning so I prefer to be really comfortable. The bad thing about that is I tend to fall asleep and I end up dreaming lines and never wake up in time to write them down.
If you could recite your poetry anywhere in the world, where would it be? Anywhere in the world? Not too suremaybe the world’s famous public toilet ( If there’s one), or maybe Dubai or on some huge stage in Russia where my voice is echoing around the entire land.
If you could name three of your favorite writers who would they be? My three favorite writers are- Danez Smith, Olive Senior and Chimamanda Adichie.
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Bittersweet
in its
Disappearance BY LEILA DOMINGUEZ
IT’S 2019 AND FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, I’VE NOTICED A CHANGE IN MY COMMUNITY. There are new shops and stores opening up very frequently in my neighborhood. The prices at the deli’s and other stores have gone up dramatically. Although, I don’t like the fact that the neighberhood is changing, it still has some nice outcomes. The good outcomes of gentrification are that neighborhood stores like deli’s, supermarkets and clothing stores begin to have better quality and different varieties of products. I’ve noticed in some grocery stores that they have organic products (which is rarely sold around urban neighborhoods). Another good outcome of gentrification is that new stores and parks are being built all around the neighborhood. Recently I’ve been noticing that a couple of shops, libraries, restaurants, and parks are being built. They have a more modern and overall higher quality of appearance than what we were previously used to. Lastly, another good outcome is more safety. Since I’ve been seeing a lot of caucasian people, I’ve also been seeing a lot more police.They have placed security cameras everywhere. Yes, police have always been around, but now I feel like they make it more of a mandatory thing. Now that I’ve discussed all the positive things about gentrification I’m going to discuss
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some negative outcomes of gentri-
en away from neighborhoods. A lot
fication. One bad outcome is that
of people like the fact that there's
they’re putting new stores and stuff
new things being built, but don’t
but items are getting way more pric-
realize that all the culture is being
ey. As I said before, they’re putting
removed by the construction of all
all these nice organic products but
these parks and houses. The places
prices are going up! Another bad
where we all grew up are slowly be-
outcome is that rent prices are also
ing wiped away.
rising and old buildings (that people still live in) are in the process of be-
As a result, gentrification can have
ing knocked down. The people who
both good and bad outcomes, but
are trying to do this are basically
we shouldn’t let that take away or
bribing people into moving out in
remove our culture!
return for a large amount of money. Lastly, culture is slowly getting tak-
Money TH E TR U E VAL UE OF
B Y K E NNE T H ALVARE Z
MONEY RULES EVERYTHING AROUND US MONEY DRIVES THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO DO THE UNTHINKABLE THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE WEALTHY AND THOSE ENVIOUS OF THE WEALTHY MONEY IS NEEDED FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING EVERYONE HAS A PRICE, IT MAY NOT BE THE BILLS PHYSICALLY PRINTED, BUT MAYBE THE MORTGAGE PAID OR A BRAND NEW CAR MONEY CAN BUY ANYTHING OR
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ANYONE MONEY CAN ALSO CHANGE A PERSON, MAKE THEM INTO SOMETHING PEOPLE DIDN’T EVER EXPECT THEM TO BE FOR EXAMPLE, THOSE WHO WERE HUMBLE ONCE NOW HAVE A HUGE HEAD DUE TO THEIR EGO THAT MONEY CAUSED FOR THEM TO HAVE A PIECE OF PAPER PRINTED HOT OFF THE FEDERAL RESERVE LABELS US HUMANS. AND, WE START WARS OVER THIS SINGLE PIECE OF PAPER KILLING OURSELVES JUST TO HAVE MORE.
I WANT YOU TO ASK YOURSELF HOW FAR WOULD I GO TO FILL MY POCKETS WITH MONEY? THINK OF MONEY AS A JAR OF HONEY ONCE YOU HAVE IT, EVERYONE IS GOING TO WANT TO PUT THEIR HAND IN IT. PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T NOTICE YOU AT FIRST ARE NOW GOING TO TRY AND CRAWL BACK INTO YOUR LIFE WHY SHOULD I LOSE A LABEL OF WHAT I ACTUALLY AM OVER A PIECE OF PAPER? WHY SHOULD I BE LABELED POOR AND RIDICULED FOR SOMETHING I DON’T HAVE CONTROL OVER? TAKE A STEP IN MY SHOES BEFORE YOU’RE SO QUICK TO JUDGE AS TO WHY I’M SO POOR.
FOR 17 YEARS, BRONX ACADEMY OF LETTERS HAS HOSTED A VIBRANT WRITER IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM. UNDERSCORING THE IMPORTANCE OF LITERACY AND WRITING, THE WRITER IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM LEVERAGES THE EXPERTISE OF WORKING AUTHORS TO BRING AN AUTHENTIC CONTEMPORARY WRITING EXPERIENCE TO ALL STUDENTS. THROUGH ELECTIVE CLASSES, STUDENTS SPARKED BY WRITING DIVE DEEP IN THE ART FORMS OF POETRY AND NONFICTION, CREATING THE RAVEN AND ONE PEN, OUR NEWS/MAGAZINE AND LITERARY JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS. ALL STUDENTS ARE SERVED BY OUR WRITERS FORUM, WHICH BRINGS PROFESSIONAL AUTHORS FIVE TIMES PER YEAR FOR RICH ASSEMBLY EXPERIENCES. STUDENTS ARE OFFERED OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT TO THE WRITING WORLD BEYOND SCHOOL, MEETING WITH SPECIAL GUESTS, ATTENDING FIELD TRIPS SUCH AS THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, AND SUBMITTING TO CONTESTS.
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