Belfield Banter - Volume 12 Issue 1 - March 2020

Belfield Banter MARCH 2020

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 1

Coming Up... STAB Football Championship Game Hannah Laufer

STAB Library?

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“This group of players and coaches have been great- everyone supported each other and had so much fun together”-John Blake. As far as the fun goes, I think I can safely say the fans had a fun time watching and supporting the team all the way to the championship!

During the first quarter of the championship game, Saint Anne’s got the first touchdown leading to smiling parents and happy players. Eventually STAB lead Covenant 22 to 14, guiding our players and fans into a mix of

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surprise and pride. However, the advantageous situation sadly came to an astounding halt. By

Notes On Pose: Camp, Class, and Cultural Diversity ——A Critique On Met Gala Looks Ellie Powell

Student Profile: Gardiner Spencer Page 8

April Horoscope!

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As all of my friends know, I had strong opinions about last May’s camp-themed Met Gala. Adorned in feathers and diamonds aplenty, those who walked the red carpet demonstrated a basic understanding of extravagance, perhaps even of the nouveau avant-garde movement. Still, few celebrities exhibited their knowledge of what camp truly means.

Key exceptions included Janelle Monae, Ezra Miller, and Hamish Bowles: three artists whose ornate outfits were the most on-theme of the night. Miller’s look, for example, designed by Burberry creative director Riccardo Tisci, was inspired by both Victorian-era fashion and the

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work of Salvador Dali. Though both the surreal and the vintage have their respective places within the camp tradition, I remain troubled by the characterization of this outfit -- or any others at the 2019 Met Gala-- as camp. Miller’s look certainly presents camp as demonstrated by iconic figures such as Oscar Wilde and Lynd Ward, but he misses a central component of camp sensibility: the intention behind it.

I do not blame Tisci for this, nor do I blame Miller, or the hundreds of other celebrities and designers who did not fulfill the impossible task given to them. Instead, I hold the team of Anna Wintour, the chairwoman of the Met Gala, entirely accountable. Wintour named the 2019 Met Gala’s theme “Camp: Notes on

A life with two lives: Poem Corner

Bushiri Salumu’s story as a refugee in Charlottesville Page 12

Photography collection Page 14

Bella Li

Neatly ironed yellow-grid shirt, black pants, when I first greet Bushiri Salumu, who has a quiet and calm smile, in Shenandoah Joe Cafe, never have I imagined the drastic changes in life he had made through. Just like other refugees in Charlottesville, he doesn’t look much different from the local people. It is only when he speaks, with the Congolese accent that shows the mark his origin country leaves

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on him, that the atypical yet inspiring story of his life unfolds.

In 2012, Bushiri Salumu stepped on the land of America. Having been counting the days since he arrived in the country, Bushiri accurately recalls: “I’ve been here for 6 years and 11 months”. When he looks back, he recognizes how greatly his life path has changed from its original direction.

Bushiri was born in a relatively elite family in Congo where his dad was a doc-

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COMMUNITY

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STAB LIBRARY COMMITTEE

Jack Dozier

When was the last time you read a book? Not a textbook or an article, but a book for leisure? If it has been a long time, you are not alone. In 2018, the American Psychological Association (APA) published “Psychology of Popular Media Culture,” in which they report that about a third of twelfth graders had not read a book or e-book for pleasure in the last year. The data set that the APA used for this study tracked students over time, and the number of twelfth graders not reading today is almost triple the number of non-readers from the 1970s. There are obvious reasons why teens don’t read the way we used to (Hello, Netflix, Disney Plus, and Instagram), but there are less obvious reasons as well. One major deterrent to reading is easy access to physical books.

You may have noticed a group of book-loving individuals gathering every Tuesday and Friday in the Soph-

omore section of the Student Commons organizing a large amount of books into many different piles. This group is the Library Committee, born of the Library Opp Block, and is a group of individuals committed to creating a library space in the STAB Upper School. In addition to gathering together the many books that are spread all over the Greenway Rise campus, Mr. Jordan Taylor the Library Committee has also been working with the school administration to locate a possible location for a library space. In this space, books will be shelved, there will be a quiet area to read and study and people may host reading gatherings. The Library Space will be a natural home for Renaissance Reader meetings, which Library Committee and Renaissance Reader Faculty Advisor, Mr. Taylor, says that “There has been a noticeable uptick in Renaissance Reader discussions this year; perhaps, the presence of books seems to be the reminder or consistent presence needed to do something that is essentially great for them.” The Library Committee is hopeful to have a Library Space organized in early 2020 and will keep the Upper School community posted on its progress. If you would like to get involved in this project, please email jdozier23@studentst.stab.org

Spread Kindness like Confetti Sallie Vick

“TOO OFTEN WE UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A TOUCH, A SMILE, A KIND WORD, A LISTENING EAR, AN HONEST COMPLIMENT, OR THE SMALLEST ACT OF CARING, ALL OF WHICH HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO TURN A LIFE AROUND.” —Leo Buscaglia So much kindness has been spread in our community in these first few weeks of our school year. Each Monday a student or faculty member is recognized for their kindness in our community.

Whether taking someone’s trash up for them at lunch, performing a thoughtful gesture, or giving a friend a meaningful compliment, STAB wants to recognize and promote these meaningful things.

The Dalai Lama puts it best when he said “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible”.

If you feel gratitude toward something someone has done for you, nominate your friend in the kindness box to be celebrated at Monday Meeting!

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community

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STAB Football Championship Game “it is the courage to continue that counts” Hannah Laufer

“This group of players and coaches have been great- everyone supported each other and had so much fun together”-John Blake. As far as the fun goes, I think I can safely say the fans had a fun time watching and supporting the team all the way to the championship!

During the first quarter of the championship game, Saint Anne’s got the first touchdown leading to smiling parents and happy players. Eventually STAB lead Covenant 22 to 14, guiding our players and fans into a mix of surprise and pride. However, the advantageous situation sadly came to an astounding halt. By halftime, Saints were down 22 to 28. Looking towards the second half, both teams ran in with new confidence and strength which allowed for an exciting third and fourth quarter. By the third quarter, STAB started with the ball and then immediately lost it due to a fumble that gave Cov. the access to another touchdown. Around the Sixth minute Nic Reese went down due to a severe cramp. At the final stage of the game, as everyone that attended became popsicles, our players still held out for a final score of 36 to 60.

With some players elated (Covenant) and some players in the depths of despair (STAB), prehapes Elijah Johnson sums it up best: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” As we wave goodbye to our Seniors and we look towards our promising Juniors we will all see how Saint Anne’s Football continues!

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culture

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Notes On Pose: Camp, Class, and Cultural Diversity ——A Critique On Met Gala Looks

Ellie Powell

As all of my friends know, I had strong

misses a central component of camp sensibility: the intention behind it.

I do not blame Tisci for this, nor do I blame Miller, or the hundreds of other celebrities and designers who did not fulfill the impossible task given to them. Instead, I hold the team of Anna Wintour, the chairwoman of the Met Gala, entirely accountable. Wintour named the 2019 Met Gala’s theme “Camp: Notes on Fashion” to feature the corresponding exhibit of camp fashion opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This name calls back to Susan Sontag’s seminal essay on the subject, “Notes on ‘Camp.’” Initially, this may have made the broad prompt seem fairly manageable to fulfill, as Wintour essentially gave participants a full-length essay detailing how to dress for the occasion. Andrew Bolton, a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explained the choice by saying that Sontag’s essay has “a lot of cultural resonance today” in that it presents a “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” Though camp fashion is as culturally relevant today as ever, asking various wealthy celebrities to dress within the camp tradition does not augment its importance. As Sontag herself writes, “intending to be campy is always harmful,” and “pure examples of Camp are unintentional.”

If this is the case, then the prompt for the event

opinions about last May’s camp-themed Met Gala.

Adorned in feathers and diamonds aplenty, those who walked the red carpet demonstrated a basic understanding of extravagance, perhaps even of the nouveau avant-garde movement. Still, few celebrities exhibited their knowledge of what camp truly means. Key exceptions included Janelle Monae, Ezra Miller, and Hamish Bowles: three artists whose ornate outfits were the most on-theme of the night.

Miller’s look, for example, designed by Burberry creative director Riccardo Tisci, was inspired by both Victorian-era fashion and the work of Salvador Dali. Though both the surreal and the vintage have their respective places within the camp tradition, I remain troubled by the characterization of this outfit -- or any others at the 2019 Met Gala-- as camp. Miller’s look certainly presents camp as demonwas inherently infeasible. According to Sontag, Ezra Miller at Met Gala strated by iconic one cannot intentionally dress “campy,” yet this is figures such as Oscar Wilde and Lynd Ward, but he

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culture

yet this is what Wintour asks from all Met Gala attendees.

Even before Sontag, author Christopher Isherwood wrote in his novel The World in the Evening that “you can’t camp about something you don’t take seriously… you’re not making fun of it, you’re making fun out of it.” Isherwood’s description further emphasizes the flagrant contradiction between the definition of camp, and the theme of last May’s Met Gala.

The 2019 Met Gala also faced media exposure from a wide range of sources. Many Twitter-users complained that the theme was too challenging to grasp, and niche bloggers everywhere wrote about who dressed to the theme, and who didn’t. In one unexpected development, almost all mainstream news sources posted articles attempting to explain camp as a cultural phenomenon without drawing attention to the movement’s roots within queer African American communities. The BBC wrote an article describing camp as “joyfully over-the-top” and “ironic,” without a single nod to the creation of camp fashion by marginalized groups in the face of oppression. The Met Gala encountered the same problem. Having obscenely wealthy people walk down a red carpet posing as “camp” fails to acknowledge that oppressed, working-class individuals created modern camp as a rebellion against the white, heterosexual normatives perpetuated in part

by American celebrities.

Journalist Tim Teeman wrote that through the Met Gala,

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“mainstream straight culture has appropriated camp, and pasteurized it… there [was] no danger or subversion on display.” There is no danger in rich, conventionally attractive celebrities like the Kardashians dressing in a style reminiscent of lowcamp, an aesthetic defined by garish colors and exaggerated femininity. The drag queens who pioneered low-camp as a modern aesthetic, however, were often assaulted for doing so. In this sense, the Met Gala feels more like an appropriation of camp than a celebration of camp. For those who attended the Met Gala, camp is a means of impressing paparazzi, corporate sponsors, and Anna Wintour. For those who championed the aesthetic early on, camp served as a subversive means of expression and resistance.

I have thought about the 2019 Met Gala an inordinate amount for the past ten months. I find myself unable to recover from the disappointment I felt after seeing a concept with such depth like camp being perverted by the Met Gala, a program I look forward to yearly. Perhaps “Camp: Notes on Fashion” served as a missed opportunity for the Met Gala to recognize the influence of queer artists on the pop culture it feeds off of so desperately. I find it more likely, however, that the 2019 Met Gala was an inevitable failure due to several factors, including fundamental misunderstandings of “Notes on ‘Camp’,” a refusal to recognize the aesthetic’s history, and the elusive nature of camp’s definition.

Wintour postponed the 2020 Met Gala due to COVID-19, but the theme this year is “About Time: Fashion and Duration.” Somewhat amusingly, I’m sure Met Gala attendees will find the concept of time easier to grapple with than the concept of camp.

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Charlottesville

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A life with two lives: Bushiri Salumu’s story as a refugee in Charlottesville Bella Li Neatly ironed yellow-grid shirt, black pants, when I first greet Bushiri Salumu, who has a quiet and calm smile, in Shenandoah Joe Cafe, never have I imagined the drastic changes in life he had made through.

Just like other refugees in Charlottesville, he doesn’t look much different from the local people. It is only when he speaks, with the Congolese accent that shows the mark his origin country leaves on him, that the atypical yet inspiring story of his life unfolds. ______________________________________________ In 2012, Bushiri Salumu stepped on the land of America. Having been counting the days since he arrived in the country, Bushiri accurately recalls: “I’ve been here for 6 years and 11 months”. When he looks back, he recognizes how greatly his life path has changed from its original direction.

Bushiri was born in a relatively elite family in Congo where his dad was a doctor and his mom held a degree in chemistry. With high expectations for his and his sibling’s achievement, his parents raised them in an extremely strict way. “Our parents, they tried to force us to get a 99 percent (in test),” he says, “they decided what type of friends we have, what time we go to bed, every time we go to bed at ten p.m. and wake up at six a.m.”

All these stopped when a sudden bomb landed on his house. In several minutes, Bushiri lost his parents and several siblings. All at once, Bushiri’s world collapsed and the future path laid in front of him was cut off. No more education. No more middle-class privileges. No more home. Without even time to process the life trauma, Bushiri was forced to step on the journey to a refugee camp with his younger siblings. to escape from the deteriorating security conditions in his hometown. In the following four years, he lived in a refugee camp where the living conditions did not even satisfy his basic living needs. He recollects: “Life was really hard. Sometimes you are hungry; sometimes the water is bad. Because it was hard to find food, during that time I was always finding food.” In the four years, Bushiri never had a chance to study again like he used to do. ______________________________________________ When Bushiri first came to America, language was the main barrier to his life here. Not knowing a single English word back then, he needed to start learning from zero. Culture was an obstacle too: in Congo, no one smokes or drinks; no one wears shorts or T-shirts; and people don’t do eye contact with each other on the street. Everything is different.

However, besides the challenges he faced, Bushiri is grateful to everything Charlottesville has rendered to him. In Congo, people don’t have a second chance of education if they pass the age. But here, he managed to get GED (an alternative certificate to the high school diploma) at the age of 28 and is now applying to 16 classes at community college. Since medical school would cost him too much time and money, Bushiri plans to go to nursing school – an alternative to doctor, the profession he would have become if he were in Congo.

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Charlottesville

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Bushiri Salumu, shot in Charlottesville Being able to return to school at a relatively high age, Bushiri treasures the opportunity a lot. When asked what advice he would give to his younger self, he answers definitely: “What I can give advice is to focus on school. Because here life is better; if you work harder, you will get [what you want].” ______________________________________________ What Bushiri loves the most is the community in Charlottesville. Talking about the people that have become his friends and helped him in life, he emphasizes again and again: “I’m so lucky to be here”.

It was also people’s help that let Bushiri get over his pain in the past. Due to the lost his parents, he had been depressed for a long time. But when he came to Charlottesville, he started seeing doctors who helped him reconcile with his past. “I try to talk with people, talk to doctor, who gave me a lot of advice.” he tells me, “I tried to forget about that, to try to believe that we have other life.”

Last year, Bushiri became a U.S. citizen. To him, U.S. has already become his home: “Yes, I belong here. I try to be part of the community. Community is very important; I consider it part of my family. I want to contribute.” ______________________________________________ It’s hard to say if Bushiri’s life is miserable or lucky. At 17, he lost everything in his life. About ten years later, he is given the chance to build a new life.

When I look out the window of Shenandoah Joe Café, I see the mild sunlight shed on me, like Bushiri’s smile, quiet and calm.

I ask him if he has any life regrets.

“The only regret I have is stuttering. I got it when I was seven. So, I have trouble if I speak in any language. That is the only life regret.”

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student profile

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Interview with Gardiner Spencer Ellie Powell I sit down on Gardiner’s bedroom floor, having just brushed out my newly purple hair. “Whoa,” he says, “it turned out really well!” Earlier in the week, I had decided to try a new look, and knew exactly to whom I should go. Gardiner dyes his hair frequently, and despite the continual changes in color, it always looks professionally done. We listen to Margo Guryan and Rex Orange County as he patiently teaches me to play Magic: The Gathering, and I rant vaguely about Fawlty Towers. As many already know, Gardiner is one of the coolest individuals at St. Anne’s-Belfield School. A skilled artist, his Instagram contains drawings, paintings, makeup looks, and even the cover for Jacob Pellechia’s recent single entitled “Absence.” As a junior still without an art credit, this impresses me to no end. After he thoroughly annihilates me in Magic: The Gathering, I ask if I can interview him for the newspaper. He agrees.

------------------------------------------Ellie Powell: So we just dyed my hair purple, and now we’re playing Magic: The Gathering.

Gardiner Spencer: And eating Frosted Flakes with half-and-half instead of milk.

EP: A surprisingly good choice. Okay, if you could do anything professionally, regardless of skill, what would you do?

GS: I would love to do music of some sort. I don’t know, I feel like music is just so deeply important. I think it’s the best way to make people feel things, and care about things without preaching to them.

EP: I would agree. Either visually or musically, who’s your favorite artist?

GS: One of my favorite visual artists is @acidarcadia on Instagram; They’ve got a really cool, sharp, choppy style while still keeping it realistic. As for musical artists, it’s probably Mother Mother. They’re a Canadian band, and they’re kind of their own genre. They write cult-y rock stuff.

EP: Very cool. And I know that you’re a prominent figure on the STAB open mic night scene, where you often play the bass. How do you choose a song for open mic night?

GS: Well last time, I didn’t choose a song, Laila did (Mitski’s “Strawberry Blond”), and I played bass for her. I don’t even know, it’s really about what I’m listening to at the moment. I’m trying to do more original stuff, though, so hopefully at the next one I’ll play something I actually made on my own.

EP: I’ve heard that you’re also part of a band! What is that like, process-wise?

GS: Well, we’ve only met like twice, and we’ve only covered “Wonderwall,” so I honestly don’t have that much to say about it. We need to meet more, and Jacob (Pellechia) and I both have songs that we’ve written that we want to work on and get them actually polished, but we haven’t sorted that out. Hopefully soon, though!

EP: Looking forward to it! You actually created the album cover for Jacob’s single, “Absence.” How did that come about?

GS: He texted me like, “Do you want to make an album cover?” Actually, it was on Christmas day, and I was sad for no reason, and also I hadn’t drawn in a long time, so it was exactly what I needed in that moment. I just played the song on repeat, and started coloring. It was really fun, and I liked how it turned

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student profile

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out. It kind of got me back into drawing for little while, which was nice.

EP: I will say, I really enjoyed the album cover. I was like, “Wow that looks like Gardiner’s style!” Then you posted about it, and I was super pumped for you because it looked so professional, and everyone was seeing it.

GS: Thank you!

EP: Where does your fashion inspiration come from? Do you draw from any specific era?

GS: I don’t know, I get like all of my clothes off of Depop, I love Depop. I try not to stick to one specific style; I’d say that some of my favorite outfits are like music inspired kind of? Like the punk genre or Grimes’ funky alien-esque aesthetic. But throughout all these styles there’s definitely a constant love for platform shoes. Fashion is totally one of my favorite art forms.

EP: Yeah, I can totally see that. If there were one thing that you would want people to know about you, what would it be?

GS: You know, that was one of the questions on the junior survey that we did over winter break for college counseling, and it was the only one that I couldn’t answer. I feel like I’m a fairly open person.

EP: No, I get it. Did you have a favorite question on that survey?

GS: I liked the one that was like, “what’s high school all about to you?” I wrote that it’s a way for you to make mistakes in a supportive environment, and figure yourself out, and figure out what you want to do with your life. Like a test run, but also real (he laughs).

EP: Yeah, for sure, especially in places like high school and college, where it’s not quite the real world yet, but we’re getting there. So I know you’re a really gifted artist, would you say that art is your favorite class at STAB? GS: It’s actually probably AmStuds.

EP: What has been your favorite thing that we’ve learned about in American Studies this year?

GS: I think my favorite unit was when we learned about life in America right after Europeans had started colonizing because I didn’t really know anything about how our country started regarding individual communities, how it got going. I found it really interesting to look at the opposing values of freedom and oppression in the country’s development and then to see how it still affects the country now.

EP: That makes a lot of sense. What do you think needs to be changed in our country today?

GS: The healthcare system in America is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s depressing, (he laughs) it’s an embarrassment. There’s a whole list of issues that just seem so glaringly awful that I don’t even know how to talk about them anymore. It’s whack.

EP: Super whack. I feel like it has become insurmountably difficult to talk about issues like healthcare or education that impact everyone without people become incredibly partisan about it. On a lighter note, do you have a favorite book?

GS: (He scans the room) It’s not on my shelf, I was looking for it, but it’s called It Devours and it’s by the

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student profile

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people who created the podcast “Welcome to the Night Vale,” and it’s related to the story that they talk about in the podcast, but it’s a whole separate thing. It’s really fun, like a weird little sci-fi deal.

EP: Would you Renaissance Read it with people?

GS: Yeah, I probably should.

EP: Favorite movie?

GS: I don’t watch that many movies! My favorite movie right now is the one I watched like a week ago, 8 Mile? The one about Eminem.

EP: Do you have a favorite Eminem song?

GS: I like “Homicide” which he collaborated with Logic for. I really love a bunch of his songs, but the concept of the Slim Shady character-- it’s so harsh and vulgar a lot of his songs are hard to listen to casually. He said in an interview that it’s like horror taking a music form, and I can see and appreciate that, but I don’t want to listen to him all the time.

EP: Yeah, I listened to his song “Kim” a while ago, and I didn’t feel like I really got it, per se.

GS: Yeah, and like it’s a good song musically, but you can’t just listen to that and have a normal time afterwards.

EP: If you could give advice to incoming freshmen, what would you tell them about high school?

GS: I would tell them that the seniors don’t actually have any superiority over them, and the ones that act like they do are probably losers. Don’t waste your time trying to make friends with seniors who think they’re too cool for you and stuff. The same goes for any situation really. Just make sure that whoever you look up to is really worth looking up to! Don’t take authority for granted.

EP: That’s fantastic advice.

This feels like a natural stopping point, and as my Spotify playlist shifts to Sufjan Stevens, we continue playing Magic: The Gathering and eating our half-and-half Frosted Flakes. More recently, while practicing social distancing, Gardiner has had Grimes’ newest album entitled “Miss Anthropocene” on repeat.

Gardiner looks forward to doing more portraiture in terms of visual arts, and has been experimenting with watercolors as a medium. If you want to keep up with Gardiner, you can follow him on Instagram (@planettfive) where he posts his art.

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horoscopes

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Predictions for April Aries: A sense of well being will be setting the tone for the month. Optimism connected to changes have been occurring in your area of shared resources. Your feelings of personal responsibilities does not seem to be defined, in order for you to comprehend what other people expect from you. Call for clarification.

Taurus: Privacy seems to be very important for you this month but you also desire to put your best front forward. Sudden changes connected to your work area could be present and these changes will not make you very happy. Adaptation should be the key to this situation as changes are very hard for you to take.

Gemini: This month could find some of you involved with friends and charitable activities. News could be reaching you connected to your position or status in the community, bringing information that could be very useful to you.

Cancer: Social status and the community seem to be very much on the forefront for you this month.

Entertainment and social activities are also plentiful. Activities at the home base have been increasing.

Leo: This month, some of you Leos will be getting a more philosophical outlook into your life. As the month progresses, you will be looking at a deeper meaning into where you are going.

Virgo: Inclination to act rashly should be curtailed and prudence be called for.

Libra: Minor differences in your point of view with loved one could come to a head and become blown out of proportion. So, iron out whatever you do not agree upon before anything is signed and sealed. Imaginary responsibilities could be cause of worries, so try to be realistic and look at other points of view.

Scorpio: The spotlight this month is on your area of work. Responsibilities need to be clarified as lack of communication is impairing your understanding of them. Changes at your home front seem to be happening in an unexpected fashion, giving you sense of having your hands tied in spite of your needs.

Sagittarius: Entertainment and social activities with good friends will come your way. Lots of communication between you and friends will also be featured, bringing unexpected news.

Capricorn: The spotlight this month is at your home base. Slow changes are going to start a momentum and moving could be one of the things that you could see in the immediate future.

Aquarius: Interchange of ideas with sibling or close relatives about changes will bring you a learning experience and a different outlook into your life. Avoid confrontations as emotions could get in the way; cooperation will be necessay.

Pisces: The spotlight this month is on your area of personal resources and values. Emotional need for some recreational and social activities could be felt and thoughts about traveling will cross your mind.You will have the greatest chances of success if you focus on routine activities.

Source: www.yearly-horoscope.org

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poem The Eyes of a Koi

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NEYLAN MASON

Once upon a time a little koi fish swam free Her eyes are clearer than the sky, her heart as vast as the sea Silly little Koi wonders what love is Pity love isn’t something a koi can see His hair drifts in the wind like high-quality silk His thousand-volt smile could make a koi’s heart tilt But now a smile he no longer wears Two rivers run down, crystal clear Raven said “His heart belongs to another girl Her refusal was the end of his rose-tinted world Only the most exquisite jewel can change her mind” But where does a boy find such fine silk and pearls?

Koi finds Mollusk, who has a pearl of the brightest Mollusk isn’t worth her effort but Koi isn’t the wisest Every trade Koi offers Mollusk denies “My pearl for only Heath’s flower!” Mollusk cries Koi finds Heath, whose flower is the grade of the highest Heath isn’t worth her effort but Koi isn’t the wisest Every trade Koi offers Heath denies “In exchange for my flower, I want your left eye.”

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poem With every stroke red ribbons fly It is determination that silenced Koi’s choking cries The pain that soars makes a fish suffocate “But at least it doesn’t hurt as it would in a heartbreak” Koi finds Silkworm, whose threads are of the finest Silkworm isn’t worth her time but Koi isn’t the wisest Every trade Koi offers Silkworm denies “My silk for only Mulberry’s leaves!” Silkworm cries Koi finds Mulberry, whose leaves are the softest Mulberry isn’t worth her time but Koi isn’t the wisest Every trade Koi offers Mulberry denies “In exchange for my leaves, I want your right eye.”

Two vivid streaks of red ribbons fly It is commitment that silenced Koi’s choking cries The pain that soars makes a fish suffocate “But at least it doesn’t hurt as it would in a heartbreak” With her blood as thread, she weaves pain into art The price of love, the worth of a Koi’s heart Tinted in red, the necklace is complete As beautiful as beauty in this world can be A thousand-volt smile that vowed to be back To trade for what caused a world of black Hooked on a promise she patiently awaits Till her blood runs dry, but he was a lifetime late Infinite red ribbons paint the reflected sky It is betrayal that silenced Koi’s poignant cries The pain that scorches, it’s suffocating Echoed was the sound of a valiant heart breaking Once upon a time a little koi fish swam free Her eyes were clearer than the sky, her heart as vast as the sea Silly little Koi wondered what love was Pity love was something Koi would never see

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Photography Miscellany of Moments

This image was taken atop a parking garage in Downtown Charlottesville. There are instances of tonal balance here, namely the snow against the black of the trash can and the man’s jacket. Moreover, the man’s expression, looking curiously to his left, reminded me of my first time walking down the same street. As that early January snow accompanied the beginning of 2019, my first time really experiencing this part of Charlottesville left a unique mark on my memory of my youth.

Pictured here, is my sister, Sophia. This photograph was taken early the morning after roughly a foot of snow had fallen, and, as you can likely imagine, she couldn’t wait to go outside and play. The prospect of snow and the lack of school-days that follow always manage to excite 7-year-olds, and this image illustrates such an expression of excitement.

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Holan Biss

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Photography

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This image was taken the same morning as the previous, and shown here is our dog, Herman. This image stood out to me because the form of the dog with contrast to the snow and the background make him stand out as the subject of the photograph. Furthermore, there is a very shallow depth of field, which eliminates confounding subjects in the background.

Herman was very influential to my childhood. My family first met him as a puppy, at which time I was only three years old, so the impact he has had on my youth is profound.

This image was taken at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. This image reminds me of the iconic Beatles album cover, and I believe there isn’t a need to clarify further which one I’m referring to. The springtime is often associated with happiness and upbeat emotions, which is quite similar to how I feel after listening to the Beatles.

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Photography

Another image taken in Downtown Charlottesville, this picture shows a street performer playing his guitar while singing. During my uncountably many visits to this place, I have seen this man perform many times, however I never saw him during the winter months.

Through the years, his coming often signalled the beginning of summer. The songs he sang were unlike any I had heard, and they all sounded truly happy.

Shown here, are three drops of dew on a leaf. This photograph was taken with a macro-lense on a 2019 March morning. I chose to include this image because it shows the subtlety of the seasons’ change. As winter slowly becomes spring, we notice the obvious things, such as the blossoms, the temperature, and the colors, but we rarely stop to notice the smallest of details.

march