Ivy Leaves Journal of Literature and Art — Vol. 80

Page 1


Ivy Leaves Staff Literary Advisor Dr.

Wayne Cox

Literary Staff

Joshua Burdette Darcie Davis

Leanne Gray

Maghan Lush Jessica Sopolosky

Marissa Sullivan

Sarah Swofford

Design Advisor Jane Dorn

Design Staff Becky Bradstreet Brian Burrell

Kayla Evett

Anthony Gonzalez IVlelissa Johnson Kari Pettit

Donavon Schmidt AshelySmoak AliseWilkins

Cover Design Kari Pettit

Anderson College 2005


You Were Never Supposed to

Know It

happened

in a

It

all

A

bird flew for the

monrient

first

time

LeAnne Gray Taking

its

flight

over countless

Trees of death and

And It

right before

I

some green knew the moment

was taken from me

— Along with

My innocence... You know the moment speak of I

The moment you so

willingly

stumble upon

The moment you are never supposed to know The moment in which the ultimate test lies and you

fail

A moment you were warned about A moment you anxiously feared A moment only death can

comfort.

Ivy Leaves

1


Dixie Holton Achilles Heel

47"x52" Acrylic

Ivy Leaves 2

on Canvas


Once in a Lifetime

Brandy Caldwell

We m med iate ly co n nected His eyes stared at me from across the room i

looked back a second,

I

third, fourth,

As he introduced himself,

I

was

and

fifth

time

moved

His eyes never

his story captivated

were

definitely awrare that his eyes

my attention

intently fixed

on my every word But spoke without care or concern I

There was so much freedom

in

our conversation

We told our histories of family let downs That

left

us strong and independent

And sometimes too

self reliant

He understood how could miss my father Because he only knew his mother for two years, but I

His surprise

"Me too,"

I

ending abruptly stated, "I'm

said

and that was

in

it

weekof my

He

I

left

Irish

return

it

life

Pub he

Until

if

we just met."

the table and rushed back

in frantically

our eyes met and he slowly and confidently his

crazy

enough

said,

to

do

and

his

While one

notion was just

it.

Thereafter, the table next to ours

like

made

way back to me,

"Dance with me," he

It

going to walk away.

said, "I'm

be as

will

searching the restaurant

^

I

other again

would be the most spontaneous and exhilarating

At one local

When

why

it.

Who knew that three years later we would find each And

didn't say

love with someone."

began to clap and cheer

man wiped away a tear with

to think of our

was almost

first

invisible;

and

the

last kiss

split

his shirt sleeve

goodbye

second before he boarded the bus

Now his eyes shine like stars far away from my knowing My heart called his name in our beginning existence He smiled In a If

at

me then and continues to hold this wand over me am held in his sight

trance float with him as I

only he could

come to this

A wish would be his

And the

I

place

I

call

forever paradise

so sweet, but could never

compare

to

strawberry touch glistening ears that truly hear

me

Ivy Leaves 3


Oscillating Fan

Still in

his quiet corner,

yearning for a hot day

Anthony Gonzalez

to perform his act of nature,

no longer dornnant but awake. His long neck

still

stands

tall,

but after years of off and on, it's

tilted

like a

towards

my window,

sunflower towards the sun.

His blades swiftly

saw the

air,

with a pleasant, soothing fury.

He helps me fall asleep it's

It

really his

at night,

only duty.

was cold without him

this night,

month unusually frigid, got in bed, the alarm went on, but he was one who didn't.

the tenth I

Ivy Leaves 4


AliseWiikins Untitled

5"x7" Photograph

Ivy

Leaves 5


Personal Belongings

I

suppose he wanted

make the

to

proposal something she'd never forget. Tricia Tyndall

He wanted

to

fly

with her to

and go ice-skating

New York

at Rockefeller

Square

and then ask her while the snow fell after a carriage ride in Central Park.

She probably had an idea of what

was coming but would

try to act surprised.

But he must have been surprised into his coat

Maybe he remembered on

his

when he reached

pocket and didn't find the

ring.

that she had her hands

chest on the plane, and he didn't want

her to feel the jewelry box, so he must have

sneaked

it

into the seat

pocket

in

front of them.

He should have paid attention when the attendant announced to check the

flight

seat pockets for

that

Ivy Leaves 6

all

personal belongings

may have been

left

behind.


Transplanting Irises

There's something familial

about the way

Margaret B. Hayes

Irises cling

together,

holding onto each other like

children holding hands.

They need transplanting, but something bothers me, for

when

I

pull

them from

the soft dark earth,

ghost-white roots like

bloodless fingers,

hang on desperately. Shocked I

pull

for a

moment,

back

feeling guilty,

then walkaway,

remembering what leaving

it's like,

home.

Hanna Kozlowski Sincerity is the Essence of Friendship 14" X 23"

Graphite on paper Ivy Leaves 7


Stacy Adams Untitled

34"x28" Oil

on Canvas

Ivy Leaves 8


Swing

The great A stretches across the Its

Shannon Griffin

It

slate,

mirror image hovering above

in full color.

A

little girl's

shadov^

Her legs straighten out.

Falls into

it.

With her

hair

blowing

the breeze

in

And her fists tightly clinched around Two silver chains, she holds her breath. She prepares

for

another climb to the top

Where she looks down on

she

all

But she's careful not to focus on

She

is

enjoying where she

is

left.

it

too long.

now, soaring high

Against a perfect blue.

Her voice echoes

in

the wind.

She spreads out her arms. Letting the breeze pass through

Her fingers. Suddenly, she

Down

again

like a

great

is

pulled back

pendulum

Touching every point on the

arc.

Before taking off again into the world

She only halfway knows.

Ivy Leaves 9


Rebecca Shaw Untitled

36"x28 Oil

on Canvas

Ivy Leaves 10


Nantahala

Bronze leaves glide

through the

AdaEzeokoli

frigid air

to the surfaces of this

green

rustling

they

A

call

silk

spread

the Nantahala.

kingfisher heads upstream,

its

blue wings

sharp

in

contrast to the bare trees

pasted against gray clouds.

The rush of the

river

echoes

through the morning mist as

we trek down the shore.

Nantahala

is

singing.

remember a river like this, where the teenage girls I

in their

multicolored wraps

fetch water in

huge

clay jars

they balance on their heads.

The trees on that

river's

bank

are laden with udalas,

the clouds white as blouses

washer-women lay out on rocks to be sun-bleached. rememberthe surge of water against my bare brown feet I

as

my hands sought out pebbles

in

the

I

can

river's

still

as she

shallow bed.

hear

Mama

singing

washed our clothes

against the face of a boulder

worn smooth from years of the scrubbing hands of women

who sang

by the

river before.

rememberthe river's song, and it lures me back to Nantahala, I

her churning rapids crashing into the silent, rigid boulders.

The

kingfisher's raucous cry

echoes through as

this cold valley

we paddle our raft backwards

into the tunnel of leaves.

Ivy Leaves 11


Mountain

Woman Blues

Her body she

Maghan A. Lusk

is

is

gnarled, twisted, and woody,

made of hard

lines,

hard

facts,

her jowls sag

is

rigid as a splinter,

in

the seat of an old rocking chair.

her

like

mouth

the planks

Cradled upon her bosom, babes, men, have been soothed into

on the crescendos of bluegrass

manhood

lullabies

and the mandolin beating between each heavy

breast;

she knits her world into the patches of a quilt that drapes, a treasure

map across

her knees,

a birth here, a death to yellow fever there,

and her own mother's legacy of casting out demons with bitterroot tonic and faith healing;

the body, flecked with age, recedes

moonshine from

a

communal

like

bottle,

falling back, back, back,

into the rocking chair passed

Ivy Leaves 12

down through

generations.


Amber Dumas Untitled 12 1/4" X 19 5/8"

Charcoal on Paper

Ivy Leaves 13


'^s5^.";^iie: Robbie Cobb Typographic Self-portrait 11"x17" Illustrator

lvyUaves14

CS


Family Vacation

my father said.

"We'll drive at night," "They'll sleep

through that way."

Marissa Sullivan But ten miles before crossing Alabama's state I

I

woke up and pressed my forehead

line,

against the cool glass.

counted 43 rebar crosses

In

the

last

four miles of the state.

Tracing each one Careful not to let

in the fog of my small breath. my finger squeak against the wet glass.

The smaller crosses were almost hidden. Secrets buried beneath the too-steep berm,

While the Into the

moon

cast

shadows of the

larger

ones

middle of the road.

"My God," my mother said after a Semi shook Past our car and we passed number 12. She glanced

at

my father

And then forward "Probably

all

the

He finally said

again.

damn drunk Indians,"

after

number 31.

"Choctaws or Creeks maybe."

My mother nodded, satisfied. One I

lay

mile past 43, and

two minutes before

But flashing on the back of

Were white

And

sunrise,

back down and waited for the beach.

my eyelids

crosses,

Indians scattered

on dawn's highway

Bleeding.

Ivy Leaves 15


— —

Ryan's Room

In

the hallway, touch the cold door with I

Pushing Ally Queen

it

open

This secret,

to enter a

my fingers

whole other time,

untouched room

and model

Football trophies

cars

That have been abruptly frozen Like a pond's surface in the

in

time

dead of winter.

Not that think I

If

he were

That

still

here today

we would

Or get along

Knowing Or that

never fuss and

like

fight,

perfect siblings,

his favorite color or

we would be the

type of car.

best of friends

And remain together every moment A timeless team. The Carpenters Singing together through

life's

mysteries and

trials,

Knowing the other will always be there

It's

On

just the

way

his senior picture sits

his night chest,

How his

letter jacket falls across his chair.

Everything

still

the

way he

left

it

Collecting dust year after year...

And never hear his laugh. Or know the way he smelled when we hugged. I'll

Although

my parents

have that great advantage...

So, often sneak up to his room and try to remember Then turn around taking just one last look, I

I

Leaving the room

Frozen

Ivy Leaves 16

in

I

time and

also leave Ryan, in

my mind since the day

he

left.


Alicia

Marquez

Kareef

32"x40" Charcoal on Conservaboard

Ivy Leaves 17


procrastinate.

Brian Burrell i-procrastinate. t-shirt

Ivy Leaves 18

design


Communion

As

we stood, our two faces

The pages and your voice

Maghan A. Lusk

illuminating

like a

Victrola throwing poetic static

Through foggy kitchen

air,

Sharon Olds'

Words never sounded so beautiful. So like a locket being opened to reveal

A sweetheart

— your love of language.

This language that did not conne from fields

Where you picked

cotton, a thick-haired.

Shoeless child; not as a mother of five, divorced,

Working your salvation out on the loom To make tapestries of others' opportunities;

You dreamed

in

metaphor and those bourgeois

Words your children never cared Nor did they care

for the fire in

to learn.

your soul

That spoke poetry on their plates: Breakfast, dinner, shelter.

Your blood and bone weaver's hands racing

Quick around the table to But your own. But

each hunger

satisfy

now your granddaughter

Places these profound gifts in her journal

Where she will show the world how a mother Forfeited her voice for those of her children.

How those voices dissipated Of her

children's children,

Voice that ^

Us, the

is

mine

in

the heat

and how this one

lingers in the fog

haze of communication.

Grandmother.

I

I

around

am

listening,

have always listened.

Ivy Leaves 19


Adam Lynch Untitled

28"x38" Oil

Ivy Leaves

20

on Canvas


—

Waiting Room

Waiting

in

a chair as hard as

a country church

Jennifer

Roman

pew

meant to be welcoming

for only

maybe two,

at hand.

A man

in

Everyone

if

eternity

is

an hour

a white coat strolls into the open. stiffens

and

listens,

only to hear the Coke machine suck up a dollar,

and

spit

Maybe

out

he'll

his

energy

for the early

morning hours.

take care of the lady

that just staggered in

with a red-blotted towel over her eye,

but

she'll

haveto

wait, just like the rest,

bare feet on a cold

floor,

facing the wall-sized for

window

everyone to sneak

at the latest

tragedy

a

in

peak

town.

Her unbattered eye staring at something unseen along with the other waiters,

making "I'll

deals,

and facing the facts

come to your funeral,

if

you come to mine."

Ivy Leaves 21


Donavon Schmidt Untitled

36"x30" Oil

on Canvas

Ivy Leaves

22


My Grandmother

She puffed the chubby cigar As

Stefanie Connelly

we all

sat

and watched

Smelling that familiar smell

She looked just Clenching

it

like

him

between her teeth

With a half-cocked smile

All this

to

remember the

Indestructible man, In a

now

5x7 gray plastic box

We smell that sweet smell And watch the smoke Amazing Grace

plays

rise as

in

the background.

Ivy Leaves

23


Adam Lynch Untitled

4"x6"

Photograph

Ivy Leaves 24


—— — —

Evergreen

By the road, an old hemlock stands

Joshua Burdette

scarecrow

like a

up

left

His splintered garb threatens his stick leg

His roots

is

thrust into the

when he braced

I

dirt.

must have spread out w^ide around him himself to stop the truck

with the two teenagers

from

after harvest.

no one,

rolling into

in

it

the meadow.

wonder if his arms are tired now way the ground pulls them down

the

But his fingers

still

like icicles.

drip Christmas green

long after harvest.

Graridfather's

Workbench

His

hands

—the color of burnt sienna

have scarred and chipped knuckles,

Darcie Davis

which used to be young and are

now shaky and

still,

old.

Hands that are constantly grinding, twisting, stripping, or

mending something.

Hands that can break something with or with that

The

same

ease, restore

bitter cold stinging his flesh

gloves would only be

in

the

ease,

it.

now,

way

hands don't know what a break feels

like

only the sweet success of the completed responsibility.

The smell of sparks from the burning steel, or the shrieking sound of the grinding wheel, what sounds harsh to the untrained is

what brings comfort to

ear,

his.

Ivy Leaves

25


Dixie Holton Untitled 32" X AT Oil

Ivy Leaves

26

on Canvas


Four Views from a Shoreline

An

old wall with old

windows

stood as longboats glided into the bay,

Franklin

Capps

filled

who

with Norsennen

this small piece of land.

who spoke

intended to occupy

These creek men

strange syllables

in

approached the coast and crossed the old into the place

and bog

burned even

fires

wall

where Gaelic was spoken in

the summer.

And the Romans eventually came dressed well and with crooked noses.

They

called this land the Winter Place

because

were

was so

it

No warm

cold.

baths or statues of generals

built or raised like

those

in

the south of England-

the cold storms rolling into Ulster

from out on the dark ocean

The old

men

wall stood as

someplace

like

left

and

to travel to the Continent at

stifled building.

as soldiers fight

Somme

the

with Newfoundlanders, Scotsmen, and Englishmen

and some from other tribes,

bogged down

only to be

dying calmly

in filthy

where invaders intended Those

soldiers

in

bleeding France

trenches to occupy.

came home

in

the

summer men

and swam

in

the same bay where creek

had come

in

years before.

Now the old wall watches as some young in

the same water where

came onto

boys swim Romans and Norsemen

shore.

The old windows see people walk about and have conversations they will soon forget. They see that there there were

men

is

here;

water here; it

has rained here.

Ivy Leaves

27


Kristy Eppolito

Moment 3"x4"

Photograph

Ivy Leaves

28


The cover art

is

inspired by

Norman

Rockwell's piece, "The Art Student."

The student

in

the painting

is

very

intently studying a portrait in a

museum. At the same time, the lady in the portrait student. Art

Although a

lot

is

is

studying the

self expression.

of the time

in

school

we work with the purpose of studying a medium of art or to learn a particular style, our art very often ends up being a study of ourselves.



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