The Shaman Staff Co-Editors Moubin Ghafoory Zach “deLo” deLongchamp Creative Design Leslie Woessner Arnaud “Curly” Nall Samantha McManus Readers Cambria Perry Tiffanie Dzietror Emmanuel Turcios Flor Lopez Taylor Diggs Advisors Lori Colasuonno and Bowen Vigus Special Thanks Thank you to Mr. Bixby, Ms. Cavalier, Mr. Bassett, Ms. Martin, and Ms. McDonald for helping to support the creative writing program at Gar-Field High School. Policy The Shaman is a literary magazine made for students of Gar-Field High School. All students in grades 9-12 are invited to submit their literary and visual pieces for consideration. The Shaman staff reserves the right to edit submissions upon acceptance for publication. Authors and artists retain copyright of printed submissions; authors grant The Shaman the right to print submissions selected by the editorial staff. The opinions expressed within are not necessarily in accordance with the views of the staff, advisors, school, or school board. Colophon The Shaman 2011-2012 was created using Adobe InDesign CS4 and printed by Staples. The text was set in Calibri. The Shaman online magazine was published using Issuu.com. The digital copy can be found at the Gar-Field High School website (Http://www.gar-field.org).
Table of Contents Writers
Page
Abigail Breeding...................................................................................................................................20 Shakeem Copeland..............................................................................................................................10 Da’Shawn Dunaway...............................................................................................................................8 Notae Eddo....................................................................................................................................16, 20 Sadiyah Faruk....................................................................................................................................8, 9 M.A. Ghafoory....................................................................................................................4, 7, 9, 12, 15 Aniiyah Jackson....................................................................................................................................13 Ashley Mendez.................................................................................................................................... 17 Aleia Parker...........................................................................................................................................11 Cambria Perry........................................................................................................................................5 Dejuante Pittman.................................................................................................................................16 Delray Sims...........................................................................................................................................10 Alex Tomlinson.....................................................................................................................................14 Emmanuel Turcios................................................................................................................................19
Artists
Page
Marzana Chowdhury.............................................................................................................................17 Flor Lopez...............................................................................................................................................6 Katherine Medinilla................................................................................................................................5 Erik Nilsson........................................................................................................................................,...11 Dejuante Pittman..................................................................................................................................18 Leslie Woessner.................................................................................................................................9, 19 Regina Young-Tueros.......................................................................................................................13, 16
Friendship “A Love not from Mothers, Fathers or Siblings. A Love found from those who help you, without you ever asking. A Love found anywhere, all over, always celebrated with good times.� M.A. Ghafoory
4
Trends at Gar-Field Cambria Perry
5
It seems the 90s are back. A recent trend at Gar-Field Senior High School has proven this to be true. The high-top fade is making what many see as a “big comeback”. Back in a time where the jherri curl and mullet reined king, urban youth eventually (probably fortunately) tired of the extensive grooming required to maintain these mops. Instead, opting to borrow aspects of a popular 1960s military cut called the flattop and the flamboyant expression of the 1970s afro. These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect hairdo. It seems though every hallway you turn at Gar-Field, a hightop fade is in clear view. “Why not?” says student and resident “high-top fader,” Jamal Walker. “It’s cool. The higher your high top, the less you fade into the crowd. You see what I did there?” This may be true, but some people aren’t exactly “cool” with this bold statement. “If you sit behind him in class, you can’t even see behind the kid’s big hair! It’s so annoying,” says teacher, Ms. Colasuonno. The 90s may be coming back; nevertheless, many believe this symbolic hairstyle has simply become whack. My Life Cambria Perry Oh how the years go by in a kid’s life Time flies from childhood to adulthood Many years suffering from parents’ strife Knowing they are doing the best they could As we go on we’ll remember good times And keep bad times in the back of our mind We go out in the world ready to shine And wondering what out there we will find Going through college and finding careers A path that begins with education Walking down it and facing inner fears As days get closer to graduation We’ll remember that this is not the end And this is where our lives truly begin Katherine Medinilla
6
Flor Lopez
7
“The blush you gain, The hearts that melt and race This Love will never be tamed. A Love ferocious, wild, and uncontrollabe, found randomly, by fate.� M.A. Ghafoory
Romance
A Love Story
All I want
Sadiyah Faruk
Da’Shawn Dunaway
Lonely
I care about him more than he knows,
Only remembering
Every time I see him, my love grows.
Voices, depicting
If we dated he would see,
Every dream Lovely Over the daybreak Venting our Every feeling
8
that we are meant to be. He is full of love and care, and he is so adorable especially his hair. When I’m cold, I want him to hold me tightly and when I’m sad, I want him to kiss me. Seeing him brings my heart joy, and if he was mine he wouldn’t be my toy.
Lazy
I can’t tell him I want him for my own,
Overly auspicious of
because sometimes things are awkward between us alone.
Veering, towards the Evening of fate Luckily, Only fools remember Vague depictions of hate, Etching out our pain
A spot in his heart is all I want right now, from this boy who makes my heart pound. I feel as if I’m falling in love; he makes my heart fly like a dove. I want him to feel like I do, so he can see my love is true. Before I leap, I picture him beside me. Every night, I hope that’s what he’ll see. Sometimes I think, why won’t he see that someone that likes him is me.
Love That Moon
Singing a Duet
M.A. Ghafoory
Sadiyah Faruk
Even the moon has a dark side,
I love you,
But whenever I see it, I still smile
Dearly so
And think it’s beautiful.
So when it disappears, waning or waxing away, And in your absence, I began to wonder
Leaving a dark and starry sky
If you could ever know
To remind me that it was there, Shining for me and only me, I’ll still smile, lie my head down, close my eyes, And remember her beauty
Do I mean as much to you As the sights you see? As the ever prevalent Need to breathe? Of course, As you know, The two of us Sing in one show And who’s to know Where we might go?
Leslie Woessner
9
Color of Love
Blue
Delray Sims
Shakeem Copeland
A girl as a prize not an object
Baby, you spring time beautiful
That’s why I work to get ya, project
And all these other girls is just squares like cubicles
Because it’s a fact, you’re beautiful, logic.
But you fit into my life you oh so suitable
Your smile is bright, baby you can’t hide it
Don’t worry ‘bout the haters ‘cause they oh so critical
For you, I’d take a full tank of lead
I love the time I spend witcha
Your eyes make my blood pump fast, red
Although I can’t paint
I don’t want anyone else, that’s what I said
I know we make the perfect picture
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Because a home is not a home if you live alone on the I can’t wait to see you every other week phone with the one you love And when I leave I toss and turn ‘cause I can’t sleep Until you hear a tone Love is for losers that’s just what it seems ‘Cause I’m for you, skin to bone
But, now I got you, baby, I’m winnin’ like Charlie Sheen
I’ve been watching your tears fall for several days
Baby, you a star to me
But your eyes still trap me, a giant maze
And if you left, I’ll probably die ‘cause you’re part of me
It’s you, you’re where my heart will stay
If you a fallin’ star I hope you fall to me
When your color was blue
I’m about to make it so you know that I’m a star to be
You thought nobody knew
Hold up, I’ma chill with this Astronomy
You were scared
But we the perfect equation like Geometry
You thought no one would care
It’s kinda mathematical how you is my girl
But I do, more than you can imagine
‘Cause me minus you equals the end of the world
Girl, you are my princess, and I will slay your dragons
You my only girl, there was never plural
I am your superman and Lex Luther is saddened
And If I could I would buy you diamonds and pearl
I will tell you everything, break it down real yellow
But, No I ain’t rich man I’m only a kid,
Even if the beat stops, I’ll go a capella
If you think I’m being arrogant, well you got it all wrong
Take your darkness and make it yellow
I’m just confident, baby, yeah I know I’ma ball
Make brighter, bring it higher
As long as I’m with you girl, I’ll never get lost
This dire
And if you left, I’ll be blue, and that’s the name of this song.
Do not fear, Your prince is here to wipe your tears Stop your gloom Give you the moon IF you accept me soon, This buffoon, I’ll hold your hand to the tomb
“I Write This Note” Aleia Parker
11
I write this note to you though you will never see. I write this note to you because you are tearing me. I write this note to you because you don’t see me anymore. I write this note to you because you make me feel invisible, alone, and broken. I cry, I try, and you don’t see me. I yell, I shout, you don’t hear me. I sing to you yet still nothing. I’m tired of feeling hurt but the worst thing is I’m your best friend; we talk every other day. You see me but not like I see you. So I write this note to you hoping you feel like me, too. Do you? I didn’t think so.
Erik Nilsson
Family
12
“The First Love Through all the storms of hatred, guilt, fear
Forever bounds them together. A Family is only given once.� M.A. Ghafoory
Daddy: The 9/11 Story Aniiyah Jackson
13
Papa always told me that no matter where life takes me, I’m gonna be somebody. I love to hear Papa’s voice. I remember he sat me on his lap as he read the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham. Every day, I look at his photo sitting on my nightstand. I miss him. I always ask Mama, “Where did Daddy go?” She always says, “Baby, he’s off to fight for our country.” I never understood what that meant. The only time I was happy was when Daddy came home. He always wore a hat and was dressed in this weirdlooking green uniform. When he picked me up he would say, “There’s my little sunshine.” That always made me smile. Papa was tall with big hazel eyes. Mama said she could see Papa though my eyes. He also had dark brown hair that curled when it was wet. People say I look like him. One day, Mama was on the phone, and she started crying a lot. I didn’t know what was going on The next thing I knew, we were at a funeral with my Daddy’s name on it. I cried a lot at the funeral. I asked Mama, “Is Daddy down there in the ground?” She said, “No, baby. He’s up in heaven looking down at us.”
Regina Young-Tueros
The Manila Envelope Alex Tomlinson
14
This story was inspired by a flash short story on deviantART.com by `yuumei entitled “1000 WORDS.” I sit here, chewing a piece of wheat grass, as I draw the landscape on top of the hill, under the Oak tree. Calm, cool, breezy days such as this one were relaxing, and I could take my mind off of the world. Although, my mind was brought back to the planet, as I watched a young girl with short hair come to the summit of the hill I sat upon. She looked at my drawing for a moment. “I wish I could draw like that…draw something…special…,” She looked at the ground with sadness in her eyes, “Then maybe Mommy and Daddy might not fight anymore…” She held a piece of rolled up paper in her hands. “Please teach me to draw! All I can do is this!” She showed the paper to me, revealing a man, woman, and child hugging and smiling. “It’ll take a long time to teach you to draw better…Besides I’m leaving this town tomorrow evening…” “Then it’ll be too late!” she cried. “Too late?” “I-I can’t get them to stop fighting with a bad picture like this!” She cried more and proceeded to rip her art in half. I pulled her into a warm embrace as I petted her hair to calm her down. “I’ll make you a deal. Give me your picture and meet me here tomorrow. I’ll give you a thousand words, because just maybe it’ll be enough to convince your parents…” I took her crayon work and smiled lightly. “O-ok…” She sniffled. The next day we meet as agreed. “Y-You’re here!” I hand her a manila envelope with one thousand words in it, as promised. “Don’t open it; give it to your parents.” A year later I find myself in the same town that girl was from. On top of the same hill, under the same Oak tree I find the girl, but her has grown quite long since last I met her. I pat her head and she jumped to hug me. “I missed you!” “You’ve grown a lot in just one year.” “I was hoping you’d come back!” she shoved a small black book into my hands. “Open it!” I do as she commands. “I wanted to give you a thousand words!” she exclaimed gleefully. In the small book the words “Thank You!” were written beautifully five-hundred times. “A thousand indeed…So I assume your family is still together then?” “Actually…they divorced a month after.” “I’m sorry.” I gave her a sympathetic look. “I didn’t stop your parents from separating, huh?” “But…” she put a hand over her heart, “you did start something in me…I’m gonna become an artist like you and change people’s lives a thousand words at a time.” She smiled brighter than the sun. Later on I found out that the parents divorced because the father had extramarital relations. But they stopped fighting about it, at least in front of the girl, when she handed them that manila envelope. When they opened it…they saw her crayon drawing that she ripped, taped back together.
Spiritual “The toughest to obtain, the greatest to have, For it is A Love unconditional for all Man, and creature, and plant.” The Love emanating from within.” M.A. Ghafoory -M.A. Gha
15
Sympathizer Notae Eddo
16 You look at us The pity reeking
with those
You only
pitiful eyes from your glare
sympathize Amplifying
our pain
It’s
a
Shame
Your Consultation
only Part
of Your
games
.
“We no longer fight wars” Dejuante Pittman We no longer fight wars over religion and other matters of god. We fight over forms of government and technology. This is where the new world’s god lies. In the form of manmade power and forms of limitations that restrain freedom. This is why the old god weeps. His children have misplaced him in the material world he allowed them to create.
Regina Young-Tueros
“I Have Crazy Love”
For the rush of bein’ alive,
Ashley Mendez
It’s always changing,
I have crazy love for my abnormal friends,
With the tears and smiles that come with it,
The ones with voices in their heads,
For the people how walk by your life,
Can’t go a minute without flashin’ a smile,
And for those who stay.
Can keep me from sheddin’ tears,
I have crazy love for music, for the ballads that speak to me,
Teach me to smile through the pain, Teach me to be a standout, To be a black dot on a blank page, To be myself, To be abnormal, Because bein’ normal is too boring to be, The life of the insane is more fun, The life of those who can keep a crowd laughing, The life of my friends. I have crazy love for a happy home, Have crazy love for this illusion, An illusion inside my mind, Has always been in my mind, Hope one day it will be a reality. I have crazy love for my bipolar mother, Who is happy one second, And sad or mad the next, Who carried me inside her for so long, Who fights for me, Even if she sometimes fights with me, Who is my mom and daddy, Who I want proud of me, I have crazy love for live, For the rollercoaster ride it is,
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For the words that understand me, For the voices that sing aloud their minds, For the beats that beat along with my heart, For the beats that can’t keep me still, For the lyrics that break my heart That makes me sing along.
Marzana Chowdhury
18
Dejuante Pittman
My Life Emmanuel Turcios I never asked for any of this…
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I never asked for the hardships in my life…
My memories…They’ve taught me important lessons…
But somehow... They’re a part of my life…
Whatever the lessons may be… They either help me… Or leave me with questions… About everything…
I’ve endured so much …
In my life…
So much… I’m surprised that I’m still standing now… I guess… It’s my will… It’s kept me standing…
My anger… My sadness… My loneliness… my pain… They all speak to me… To always try to stay strong…
My mind… It’s like a battlefield…
For my friends… Family… And for the people I love…
Trying to cope with everything that’s happened in my life…
This is how I live my life… It is a constant battle…
It’s a long and hard battle…But somehow…
But somehow… I stay gold…
I keep fighting… and staying alive…
Leslie Woessner
THE DIVISION (Scatters)
The Meadow
Notae Eddo
Abigail Breeding
I bet I’ll die happy,
Death,
Cause’ it’s when I’m angered
It came for the boy in the meadow,
I live This lie Life. My decision to remain whole has expired and renewed on several occasions However my pain remains Static.
A boy the age of six. The boy was young, Foolish and naïve, Without a care for sickness or sorrow. Yet, his playful ways were over, Death came to take the boy, For Death must show no mercy.
I only feel when it hurts.
This boy got lost,
I only love, always.
Frozen in a ghastly meadow,
Though I always...
Where the flowers now froze and withered.
BURN. Death caused this,
The pieces in which the foundation lay are shifting
His soul numb,
Gradually,
Unmoved and uncaring.
always. Until Pangaea is only dysfunctional again.
Running, the boy came to know fear, Fear of horrible cold,
If only I could SCREAM? without feeling... RUDE. But pictures are never perfect anyways... They are only a window into what the viewed want to be seen. Never truthful. Perhaps next time you should capture your clip in exposure, Right at the scene of the relapse.
Fear of the agony of loneliness. Painfully, the boy’s heart cooled, Until it was black as the night, All of his once pure innocence was gone. As for Death, When he went to claim the boy, The boy of just six— Death saw death in the boy, And could not claim him,
For now, the boy stood as Death.
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Gar-Field Senior High School 14000 Smoketown Road Woodbridge, VA 22192