The Selladore - 8th Edition, Issue III

The SELLADORE

REFLECTIONS

Cover: Momentum, Rowan Parkinson

“All these magic moments I’ve forgotten.”

- Jeff Rosenstock, We Begged 2 Explode

THE SELLADORE

"I was astonished when someone first showed that by writing cellar door as Selladore one produces an enchanting proper name.” - C.S. Lewis

“Your language too has soft and beautiful words, but they are not always appreciated. What could be more musical than your word cellar-door?” - W.D. Howells

“The modern small home or apartment has ... deprived today's child of ... the pleasant summer afternoon activity of sliding down cellar doors. Just what happened to the slanted cellar door in this efficient age isn't clear; although cellars have remained, nothing has disappeared more quietly from modern life than these cellar doors.” - William Chapman White

“This famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, that ‘cellar door’ is the most beautiful.” - Karen Pomeroy

“Sell a cellar, door a cellar, sell a cellar cellar-door, door adore, adore a door, selling cellar, door a cellar, cellar cellar-door. There is damned little meaning and less sense in such a sentence, but there is, unless my tonal balance is askew, twice more rhythm and twice more lovely sound in it than in anything, equally idiotic, that Miss Gertrude ever confected.” - George Jean Nathan

“I’m like you ...I remember everything.” - André Aciman

“No. It’s not a name. It’s something else. Selladore, it’s not a princess’ name, it can’t be. Selladore… is a place… It is a place which is revered by all who know of it. A sacred place marked at its centre by… by trees.” - David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford

“I am my own muse. I am the subject I know best, the subject I want to know better.” - Frida Kahlo

“The art of art, the glory of expression, and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.” - Walt Whitman

INTRODUCTION

Within these pages are entire worlds, constellations of meaning and purpose brought to bear upon us by the students of Elmwood. There is a startling array of techniques and styles fraught with humour, passion and intent. Though each piece says something different, they are similar in that they all say something meaningful and forceful. We started this journal for this expressed purpose: to give the students of this school an opportunity to regain control over language and to exert agency where there might exist passivity. These authors have tamed language to meet their emotional ends and, in so doing, give you, the reader, an understanding that such things are possible, no matter your age or experience. We ask simply that you read these words with an open mind, an open heart, and with the understanding that, should you choose to express yourself as well, the next issue will be waiting for you.

Sincerely,

Your Editors

Elizabeth

May Wang

Rowyn Pratte

Aurae Rogers

Mehak Sandhu

Claire Hang

Khaliya Thawer

Sloane Bradley

Queenie Yau

Tamsen Taylor

Sarah Di Silvestro

Ceili Halloran

Chloe Danks

Madelaine Delaney

CONTENTS

Get Out Of My Head!

sleeping in class

Dried Roses

Rowan

Maya Yemm

Lorrie Whiten

Eliza Riegel

Figures of Light

Victoria Barliszen

Lorrie Whiten

Izzie Morgan

Queenie Yau

Chloe Bazilev

Eliza Riegel & Lily Sun

Maddie Petit

Maddie Petit

Rowan

Rowan

Phone Call

. RainSong

TRACKLIST

BabyBirch

. Good Morning, Al

TheLonesomeBorder,Pt.1

. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

Feathers

.

First Day of My Life

Sharp Cutting Wings (Song to a Poet)

. ThingsBehindTheSun

Dagger .

Hold On Magnolia

JonBrion

HanYe-ri

JoannaNewsom

AllyEvenson

DearNora

BigThief

Florist

BrightEyes

LucindaWilliams

NickDrake

Slowdive

Songs:Ohia

RadioCure

Perfect

YouKnowMoreThanIKnow

Cactus Tree

not a lot, just forever .

It’sInfinite

TwoWays

. Landslide

Heaven-Live

The Moon

AllThingsMustPass

. WatchingHimFadeAway

Wilco

MJLenderman

JohnCale

JoniMitchell

AdrianneLenker

Lomelda

Florist

FleetwoodMac

TalkingHeads

TheMicrophones

GeorgeHarrison

MacDemarco

Ace of Spades, Elizabeth Chen-Baker

Shattered, May Wang

Looking Back At Her, Rowyn Pratte

reflection

Aurae Rogers the room i am in is made of mirrors so it doesn’t matter where i look i have to face the consequences of my actions my reflection haunts me through the floor and the only place where i don’t see my own face is the inside of my eyelids there aren’t any doors in this place it’s all just reflective glass and it doesn’t matter how far or fast i run i can’t outrun myself and the wide eyes that look back at me when i try and stare into the past it’s an eerie kind of calmness that gazes back at me because for all of my screaming and crying the reflection is always a calm smiling monster

Whisper, Mehak Sandhu

de Lune, Claire

Thick Water, Khaliya Thawer

The Ending of Us

Sloane Bradley

What mind said, “we have two deaths”?

One for our bodies, to dissolve into flowers. For the slow crumble of our fingertips that seek out memories, of clay seals and scraping chalk, of hot pain and teeth on crystal glass.

What mind spoke of the second death?

The one for our souls, to fade into air.

For the imprint of us to chip out of people’s wandering minds, for the memories of familiar winds to echo into tumultuous feelings. For the Ending of us.

Multimedia Video, Queenie Yau | Click to play

Raven, Tamsen Taylor

Binary, Sarah Di Silvestro

Fact vs Fiction, Ceili Halloran

Serenity

Chloe Danks

In the middle of the wilderness

A lake comes into view

The shimmering and sloshing of the water draws you in Like a moth to a flame You rush towards it

Diving into the dark blue water

You only hear the peaceful hum of the lake The noise draws you in Its heaviness comforting As you sink toward the bottom

thinking through air, Madelaine Delaney

Social Cues, Elizabeth Chen-Baker

sleeping in class, Queenie Yau

Dried Roses, Rowan Parkinson, Eliza Riegel & Lily Sun | Click to play

Key, Maya Yemm

within, Lorrie Whiten

Kaleidoscope

Eliza Riegel

The mirror on your face Is blind-sighted of what’s not Calibrated by the days Shattered pieces in a box

Spinning out of my head I will take all of the heat Even if I will never sleep

Spinning out of control Wash my mouth out with your soap

Killing the kaleidoscope.

Figures of Light, Victoria Barliszen

passing, Lorrie Whiten | Click to play

to be in spite

Izzie Morgan

Happiness is wrong

Because the world is breaking so why should you be happy?

Why should you be happy to see a girl laugh with her mother When girls and mothers all over the world are dying alone.

Why should I laugh at my fathers antics When other fathers berate their sons?

Why should I sing to my favourite song when there are those without voices?

Or dance my favourite dance when others are unable to stand?

Well here’s my answer: we do these things in Spite. We smile because the bad is so real that it pulls at our lips.

We laugh because we wish to scream.

We sing because our voices fade.

We dance because our legs will give out.

We live and breathe in spite of death

So there is no point in giving in.

The world is breaking so we let ourselves be happy.

Happiness is right.

my trip to the zoo, Queenie Yau

Highlands, Chloe Bazilev

EDITORIALS

Once you start to look, you cannot help but see.

Muse, Maddie Petit

antenna, Maddie Petit

Self-Portrait, Rowan Parkinson

Kin

Rowan Parkinson

Sitting around a table:

Two skeletons wearing our faces

I look you in the eyes,

The same as mine

Imagining I could see the outline of your heart

Remembering every time you’ve cried (for me)

Days unhook, time unravels

The speakers play soft lullabies out of order

The possibility of change too distant to touch

You reach for my hand and I don’t pull away

Everything fades and we will too

Thank you anyway

ARTISTS

Elizabeth Chen-Baker

May Wang

Rowyn Pratte

Aurae Rogers

Mehak Sandhu

Claire Hang

Khaliya Thawer

Sloane Bradley

Queenie Yau

Tamsen Taylor

Sarah Di Silvestro

Ceili Halloran

Chloe Danks

Madelaine Delaney

Eliza Riegel

Lily Sun

Maya Yemm

Lorrie Whiten

Victoria Barliszen

Izzie Morgan

Chloe Bazilev

EDITORS

Rowan Parkinson

Maddie Petit FOUNDERS

Megan Sweeney

Safa Siddiqui

PAST EDITORS

Sophia Swettenham

Madeleine Klebanoff O’Brien

Linnea Dalvi

Zaina Khan

Abigail Butler

Hannah Gerring

Bianca Sugunasiri

Stella-Charles Fisher