ETC...2020
Literary Contents
Etc Magazine Publication Team
Senior Editors
Jessica Gronikowski
John O’Keefe Rose Mularadelis
Title
Author Page
Prose
Title
Author Page
Detour From You
Abigail Guenther.................................................................................................... 12
Gone But Not Forgotten
Samantha John.........................................................................................................4
A Ghost
Bella Pesce.............................................................................................................. 12
A Wilted Flower
Layla Gojaniuk.........................................................................................................4
Fraying
Tiera Figaro.............................................................................................................. 12
There Are Questions
Abby Guenther.........................................................................................................4
Footprints
Angelina Fierko.......................................................................................................13
Start the Change
Kayla Losier...............................................................................................................5
Leave
Maeve Evanovich..................................................................................................13
A Mechanical World
Phoebe Kong............................................................................................................5
The Dance
Katherine G. Benjamin..........................................................................................14
Gone
Ethan Kohn.................................................................................................................5
Characters Who Never Fade
Jillian Lee..................................................................................................................14
A Promise of a Hero
Bella Everett...............................................................................................................6
Things We Don’t Know We
Without You
Collin Treacy.............................................................................................................7
Don’t Know
Estelle Kulessa.........................................................................................................15
Grandpa
Ean Chambers..........................................................................................................7
The Key to My Heart
Grace Lombardi ...................................................................................................15
Old Man
Evan Fisher.................................................................................................................7
Lambs to Slaughter
Jennifer Miller..........................................................................................................16
Side Character
Claire Meehan ........................................................................................................8
The Storm
Jessica Gronikowski...............................................................................................17
The Background
Claire Meehan ........................................................................................................8
The Tempest
Ava Wilson..............................................................................................................17
Stillness
Max Neyraval .........................................................................................................8
Fears That Follow
Trent Collins.............................................................................................................18
The Ashes Below
Kitty Vernon................................................................................................................9
Mind Games
Isabella Dussias......................................................................................................18
Raspberries
Jessica Gronikowski.................................................................................................9
Lamentations of a Madman
Katherine Benjamin................................................................................................18
Birds Fly, Fish Swim
Andrei Ramirez........................................................................................................10
???
Matthew Jakim........................................................................................................19
Soaring Separately
Christina Randazzo................................................................................................10
Typical High School Art Room
Tidal Drift
Jerry Peters............................................................................................................... 11
Translated by a Bot
Maegan Hontanosas, Daelan Hontanosas and Ashley Reme...................19
Waves in a Bath of Salt Water Brielle Ponticiello.................................................................................................... 11
ETC Staff
Caroline Anderson
Julianna Johnson
Ashley Reme
Max Neyraval
Ashley Pillsbury
Maegan Hontanosas
Daelan Hontanosas
Gabriel Truch
Claire Meehan
Kirsten Steege
Moderators
Steve Lobis
Brittany Brydges
Etc. is the annually distributed art and literary magazine of Notre Dame High School. The magazine is a showcase for all the creative talents in Notre Dame, from poetry and prose to art and photography. The members of the Writing Irish, a co-curricular club here at Notre Dame, contribute to the compilation, layout and designs of the magazine. We, the Editors, Staff and Advisors of Etc., would like to thank the students who submitted their art and literary work for the magazine. We would like to extend a special thanks to Joanna Barlow and Ken Jennings for their continued support of the Arts at Notre Dame and to Ms. Diane Wargo for her help in the selection process. We would also like to extend the dedication to our graduating seniors, especially our Senior Editors, Jessica Gronikowski, John O’Keefe, and Rose Mularadelis, for all of the work, time, and effort they have put into this magazine. We wish all of our seniors the best of luck in their future endeavors in college.
Art Contents Title
Artist
Page Title
Artist
Aurora
Ryan Mc Carron .................................................... Front Cover
Forgotten Faces
Ryan McCarron .......................................................................12
It Must Have Been the Roses
Bella Everett ...............................................................................4
Steal Your Face
Cameron Holbrook..................................................................12
I Will Thrive
Alessandra Morabito................................................................4
Footprints In the Sand
Ryan McCarron........................................................................13
Dystopian Magic
Renato DiLorenzo ......................................................................5
Hidden Places
Alessandra Morabito..............................................................13
Mean Streets
Dean Cimmino ..........................................................................5
Timeless
Angela Mauro .........................................................................14
Whole World In Our Hands
Patricia Pestano ..........................................................................5
Memories of You
Ellie Lamond .............................................................................14
Earth Mother
Lucy Miles ...................................................................................5
Tiny Treasures
Mary Gillespie..........................................................................14
Lyrically Yours
Bella Everett ...............................................................................6
Pinky Promise
Amy Young.................................................................................15
Unspoken
Patricia Pestano ..........................................................................6
The Key
Lucy Miles..................................................................................15
Serene Sorrow
Cortaz Williams ........................................................................7
Seeking Shelter
Angela Siwarski........................................................................15
A Place Called Home
Ashley Pillsbury ...........................................................................7
The Things I’ve Seen
Bella Everett ..............................................................................16
Smile
Alessandra Morabito................................................................7
A Life In Photographs
Patricia Pestano ........................................................................16
Guardian Angel
Daelan Hontanosas ..................................................................7
The Analysis
Ryan McCarron........................................................................16
Dire Wolf
Eddie Emde ...............................................................................8
Lightning Gale
Ryan McCarron........................................................................16
Neon Glow
Claire Meehan...........................................................................8
The Storm
Jessica Gronikowski ................................................................17
Blue
Cortaz Williams .........................................................................8
Fly by Night
Savannah Alizio........................................................................17
The Birds
Julianna Johnson.........................................................................9
Solo
Noelle Geroso.........................................................................17
Light Up The Night
Ryan McCarron ........................................................................9
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Julianna Johnson ......................................................................18
Electric
Dean Cimmino............................................................................9
Tales from the Deep
Julianna Johnson ......................................................................18
Celestial Ocean
Joshua Gomez..........................................................................10
Listen Carefully
Alessandra Morabito..............................................................18
Avian
Jessica Gronikowski ................................................................10
Wet Floor
Josh Gomez...............................................................................19
Whirlpool
Joshua Gomez..........................................................................11
Art Goblin
Maegan Hontanosas..............................................................19
Rainbow Aquatic
Mackenzie McCarron ..........................................................11
Ode to Haring
Owen Jezek...............................................................................19
Star Vessel
Ryan McCarron........................................................................11
Nightmare Fuel
Ashley Pillsbury ........................................................Back Cover
Walk In My Shoes
Mary Gillespie .......................................................................12
Notre Dame High School • 601 Lawrence Road • Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 • Volume 32 • Issue 1
Page
Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone
by Samantha John
by Ethan Kohn
If the world were to end today, We would not know anyway. If all things came to a halt, Would it be mankind’s fault?
Tick Tick Tick Gone. The souls of the damned longed to leave Gone. The ghostly frame of homes Gone. Smoking for days… Years. Forever. The day it happened. They were gone Their ichor flower Dripping like rain. They knew it was coming They ignored the clock They laughed It went Tick Tick Tick They scurried like rats Until the rats scurried On them, eating an eye a toe a heart Until they were gone. Gone. Tick Tick Tick
If everything we cherished Turns to dust and perished, Did all life become extinct Or were we just hoodwinked? Would the earth still rotate, Without us would she wait? Until the day we came back, From out of the deep black? From where we came, Books will know our names. Our story may live on Until we are truly gone.
A Wilted Flower by Layla Gojaniuk
It Must Have Been the Roses”
There Are Questions
Bella Everett
by Abby Guenther
Who chose this way? Did only fire get a say? What happened to choice? Do they not care about a hummingbird’s voice?
Our world is like a flower It’s fate is completely in our power We can nurture it and help it grow Or over time watch it go Our flower is starting to wilt And the earth cannot be rebuilt So we must water our flower now It is our only planet anyhow
Mean Streets
Dystopian Magic
Dean Cimmino
Renato DiLorenzo
Start the Change
A Mechanical World
by Kayla Losier
I am dying and my children do not care my slow demise brings them no despair The doctors scream that my fever is too high yet some of my children still claim that’s a lie They poison my water day after day my younger children will help me, I pray As my older children’s lives come to an end my youngest children now help me to mend Just posting on social media is not right they need to get active to win this fight Their shouts and protests will start the change
How could the rain stop falling? Did it stop hearing its calling
by Phoebe Kong
As a child he didn’t play sports, But watched robots play from the sidelines of the courts, And there was no use of going to college, If droids already possessed all the knowledge, And there was no need to have a career, When machines would happily volunteer, He couldn’t write, he couldn’t cook, Because only robots could read a book, As he sat on that couch he started to doubt, The world of electronics that had come about, For instead of humans ruling the world, The takeover of robots quickly unfurled,
When did the rainbow die? Color didn’t even get to say goodbye
And what might happen if some fateful day, The robots’ electricity was taken away,
Where did the sun go? The world can’t thrive without its glow
How to cook, read, and clean up spills, How to perform these basic skills?
Why did the phoenix stop rising? Because the world stopped crying
4
I Will Thrive Alessandra Morabito
Whole World In Our Hands Patricia Pestano
Earth Mother Lucy Miles
5
Without You...
Old Man
Grandpa
by Collin Treacy
by Evan Fisher
by Ean Chambers
Without you life was like a rainy day, the sun no longer smiled. My heart was a weight I could not lift. Many years later and the sun shines brightly. Life is like one of your home-cooked meals. The memories of you are the rainbows I see after a storm. You are still with me standing by my side as my guardian angel.
As I watch you Stroll through town I wonder what has brought you down. You used to be so full of life But now you hardly put up a fight. You used to know What made us grow And how to keep the thorns out our toes. But now I see you in new light A man who doesn’t know his left from right. A man who can’t be left alone A man who lives in a dirty home. But even in your darkest days You make me strong in every way.
when i remember you your voice so genuine laughter, filling all rooms of a lighthearted man or when i remember you laying in that casket the beautiful brown one perfect for you laying at rest, watching over us gone too soon, never forgotten i say when i remember you you amusing artist who used to be the best player in Brooklyn who used to wear that number proudly i’ll play for you through your loss i’ll play for you
Unspoken Patricia Pestano
Serene Sorrow Cortaz Williams
A Promise of a Hero by Bella Everett
Smile
I will do anything to protect you From the dangers that will be I will provide anything for you Just to see a chuckle of glee
Alessandra Morabito
I will give you all my unconditional love So much so it will ache I will love this child to the ends of the earth A promise I will make
A Place Called Home Ashley Pillsbury
Lyrically Yours Bella Everett
Guardian Angel 6
Daelan Hontanosas
7
The Ashes Below by Kitty Vernon
Side Character by Claire Meehan
AntiSocial UnImportant IntroverteD IgnorEd InCompetent sHy Alone tiRed unmotivAted Self-Conscious BoThersome detachEd uninteRested
Dire Wolf
My heart is a volcano Erupting because of pain The memories have become lava, Oozing from every vein The tears I cried burned my cheeks Leaving destruction on my face This is the last time anyone Will make me feel out of place
Eddie Emde
Electric Dean Cimmino
Stillness
Blue
by Max Neyraval
It was Midnight. The moon was high, the stars hidden in its cloak. The town asleep, with sleeping folk. The Stillness grew thick, thicker thick, never waning, always there. It was One. The boy never slept, not anymore, as the Stillness consumed him, blotting his will. The town never noticed, as the Stillness passed over their windowsills. When he yelled, his screams forever muffled, as loudest whispers kept him eternally troubled It was Two. The night had grown long, and the Stillness longer. The boy was alone in his night, as the townsfolk could never sense his plight. But he saw in the next window, a faintly glowing light. Someone else the Stillness had consumed, now pacified by fright. The boy was confused, as he knew the horrors of the Stillness. Yet in the far window, was someone he felt. Selective yet permeating, its calm shrillness. But yet the candle burned on.
Cortaz Williams
Light Up The Night
The Background
Raspberries
by Claire Meehan
by Jessica Gronikowski
The silence is everlasting, Negative thoughts are engrasping, Using masks to be joyous, Because my being is pointless.
A field full of raspberry bushes lays out in front of me. Expansive, too much for my weak eye to see.
Practically invisible, Success seems impossible, A weed surrounded by flowers, I’ll forever be a coward. Maybe someday it’ll end, But that’s not something I can comprehend, As the silence doesn’t cease, One day I’ll be at peace.
Neon Glow
Ryan McCarron
They lied. Helplessly, I watch as my field full of raspberries, slowly decays and falters and falls apart. A burning match singes my fingers. I drop the match, I burn my decaying field, until nothing at all remains.
The Birds Julianna Johnson
Claire Meehan
8
9
Rainbow Aquatic Mackenzie McCarron
Whirlpool Joshua Gomez
Avian
Celestial Ocean
Jessica Gronikowski
Joshua Gomez
Birds Fly, Fish Swim
Soaring Separately
Waves in a Bath of Salt Water
by Andrei Ramirez
by Christina Randazzo
by Brielle Ponticiello
We are like fish and birds You’re always flying up so high As I always look up to you You’re now reaching heights never seen before As I will see through depths never reached before You’re going to be one among the stars As I will be the one to watch you from the sea floor
Excitedly came out of the nest waiting for you, You showed me how to fly and together we grew, Then something changed and sadly we both knew, That we would no longer soar the skies as two, The flights and journeys are no longer so blue, Because I should have known you’d fall through.
We are like the waves, Together until the final crash, Washing away the footprints, Rocking back and forth with just a single splash. We may always be connected at heart. But we are only just one wave apart.
Tidal Drift by Jerry Peters
We are like the moon and the ocean Locked together in stellar motion One day, I felt a shift, And you left, ignoring my plea, And, no matter how far we drift, You will never stop affecting me.
Star Vessel Ryan McCarron
10
11
Fraying by Tiera Figaro
We were as a fraying rope, trying desperately to hold onto the love we grew so fond of, Withering away the more we prolonged the inevitable, Seeing the end of a gorgeous chapter much sooner than expected, With life giving its final strike, Severing us into two broken strangers, Strangers thankful enough to know we’ve been loved.
Walk In My Shoes Mary Gillespie
A Ghost
Forgotten Faces
Footprints by Angelina Fierko
We are like new shoes Boxed with new beginnings Journeying through life’s trials and tribulations Both shoes pointing in different directions Each step brings another mark To the once perfect pair
Ryan McCarron
by Bella Pesce
Footprints In the Sand
Your friend promises they’ll be there forever, Even becoming a part of who you are. Until this friend turns into a ghost, Vanishing from your life, leaving a scar.
Ryan McCarron
Eventually, becoming just a ghost of the past, But their spirit in you can never die. When a friend leaves, not only do they disappear, A small part of you also says goodbye.
Detour From You
Leave by Maeve Evanovich
by Abigail Guenther
12
Steal Your Face Cameron Holbrook
Oh how much they put the car through Only to abandon it When the road got windy When the snow began to fall When they passed accident after accident When rush hour came When the road took them on a detour They continued to drive. When the car inevitably broke down So did it’s passengers They realized This car could no longer transport two people at once The passengers left their car One walked down the road To start again The other called a taxi to continue their journey Alone
Struggling through it all, Feelings of doubt racing through my heart, Running like a car on the track, Seeing you so eager to leave, Leave like birds in the winter, Makes my heart break in two, Watching you leave, Before I’m able to say I love you.
Hidden Places Alessandra Morabito
13
Things We Don’t Know We Don’t Know by Estelle Kulessa
What makes us this way? We’re afraid, that’s all we know. It’s like a bad habit That we can’t seem to let go. What makes us this way, That we understand our pain? We can overcome our fears, But can we overcome our brain?
Tiny Treasures Mary Gillespie
The Dance by Katherine G. Benjamin
Memories of You
Pinky Promise
Ellie Lamond
Amy Young
Characters Who Never Fade
The Key to My Heart
by Jillian Lee
by Grace Lombardi
When the lights went down That one last time, I said goodbye to someone Who had become part of me, Like a ghost from the past. Is gone for now, But is never forgotten, Seeming to show up again and again.
Like a locket with an incorrect key, We struggle to fit together, But you cannot complete me. We both have our different purposes. You keep them together, I open them up. But no matter how many times we try to restart, Our differences will always keep us apart.
Seeking Shelter
I waltzed with you in a dance hall in Berlin, In the last golden days of the last golden year. I was made for you Turning without trying, in weightless unison Unable to think of anyone but you, To think of any life but us. I waited to see you again And you arrived in black boots, and I tried to ignore it Ignore that, day by day, we were dancing out of step Ignore the whispers and the banners, and hear only the waltz Lurching Faltering And I couldn’t recognize the melody anymore And on that night, I walked out into the cold An unfamiliar street An unfamiliar life And I wondered - my homeland, where have you gone?
14
Angela Siwarski
Timeless
The Key
Angela Mauro
Lucy Miles
15
The Storm by Jessica Gronikowski
A Life In Photographs Patricia Pestano
The Analysis
Solo
Ryan McCarron
Noelle Geroso
Lambs to Slaughter by Jennifer Miller
earth suffering under the weight of mankind too much demanded and not enough supplied so parents line up every son and daughter as if they are lambs waiting for the slaughter single file, no emotion on their faces they don’t know what their fate is and then the children take the test so they can determine who is best you are safe if the number is high If it is low this is your goodbye I know that what they do is wrong although society has let it prolong because the ones who are now alive are the ones smart enough to survive and I know that they are more than number but because of it the children must suffer
Lightning Gale
Fly by Night
Ryan McCarron
Savannah Alizio
The Things I’ve Seen Bella Everett
The Tempest by Ava Wilson
blasphemy stuck to your fragrant lips, inaudible the vertigo of your storm raging like our scatterbrained love. rain pounds on the foundation we built drowning us in a whirlpool of flashing ivory and thunder that rattles the sand. and in the eye of a good omen, the tempest never ceased.
16
Against the Flow Alyssa Skorodinsky
she wishes to wonder. will it come true? she was born with a million dreams, and now there are barely any left. her dreams were carried away by butterflies. a hundred wishes, a thousand thoughts, a million dreams, all vanished. only butterflies remain. beauty. error. perfection. anxiety. listen to your heart, they say, it will guide you. but her heart doesn’t speak. it has no words to give. it has no blood to pump. it has no lessons to teach. it has no path to guide. only butterflies remain. we are one, the butterflies insist. we will always be a part of you. you can’t get rid of us. we will follow you to the end of the earth, to the deepest caverns, to the endless abyss of oceans. we will follow you until nothing but butterflies remain. and beyond. beyond. beyond the oceans, beyond the caves, beyond the earth. they follow her. they silence her heart. they muddle her head. no thoughts, no words, no pencils. only butterflies remain. she stands on a bridge. it is dark. the stars are numbered. only the brightest barely shine through the murkiness, through the haunted clouds, through the pollution of butterflies. one by one, they disappear. one by one, they are replaced with butterflies. what a sad sight. only butterflies remain. she sits in her car. the street is lit up by christmas lights. the car is off, and all she hears is the faint hum of a cold winter night. she is consumed by butterflies. her tears fuel them. anxiety compresses her. her whole world is caught up in a swirling storm of white butterflies, their beauty blinding her, their sharp wings scarring her. she fights back. she yells. she screams. she gives in. she sees them for what they are, a million butterflies swirling around her. trapping her. it’s almost comforting. at least something will stay with her, no matter what. she returns to her storm. only butterflies remain. a girl walks up the driveway. the butterflies trail behind her. a star is buried in the pavement, barely peaking out among the rubble. the star burns as she pulls it free. she cradles it closely to her chest. it is small, but it is hers. butterflies still remain. they will never quite go away. her dreams return. slowly, they trickle into her heart. slowly, they pull her from the storm. slowly, stars make the endless sky complete.
The Storm Jessica Gronikowski
17
Are You Afraid of the Dark? Julianna Johnson
Listen Carefully Alessandra Morabito
Wet Floor
Art Goblin
Josh Gomez
Maegan Hontanosas
Typical High School Art Room Translated by a Bot by Maegan Hontanosas, Daelan Hontanosas and Ashley Reme
X cetra
??? by Matthew Jakim
No home, Shalom. No bills, war kills. No responsibilities, many hostilities. Is this kids? Age 5? NOT ALIVE!
INT. Artroom in Highschool
Tales from the Deep
Children artists meet around table with papers and judge.
Julianna Johnson
Fears That Follow
Mind Games
Lamentations of a Madman
by Trent Collins
by Isabella Dussias
by Katherine Benjamin
Fears that Follow They creep at night Seeing a thing in the corner Something isn’t right.
When your mind is restless And searches for relief, Bravery attempts to prevail but fear lies beneath.
It is not the pain, but the foretaste of it It swells in the mouth, the metallic taste of things to be Demon-screeches of knowledge gone awry The twisted oracle’s perverse, provocative glee
Fears that Follow You hope and pray, Nightmares you cannot escape Scaring to this day.
The shadows that wander find a home in your brain, Engulfed by the utter silence fear drives you insane.
Come, my friend, see the degeneration Wasted time, illness, and deathbed laments Visions beyond reason’s reproach The future returns and returns to torment
STUDENT 1: Things are like more things Change is generally hard Rain is comforting STUDENT 2: Yes, Yes, No STUDENT 3: I think poem STUDENT 1 (CONT’D: later
Ode to Haring Owen Jezek
18
19
A Writing Irish Publication Notre Dame High School 601 Lawrence Road • Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 Volume 32 • Issue 1
- Dr. Seuss
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Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.
Back Cover art:
Cover art:
Nightmare Fuel
Aurora
Ashley Pillsbury
Ryan McCarron