Dusk Literary Arts Magazine

RTS MAGAZINE

Blake Middle School

Hopkins, MN

Published Spring 2023

First edition

Front cover designed anonymously

Back cover designed by Mary Smith

Section pages designed anonymously

Art designed by Canva unless otherwise noted

The Dusk editorial team

Hazel Alexander (8)

Chloe Holmstrand (8)

Madelyn Ferguson (6) Ada Friedman (6)

A special thank you to Ms. Victoria Robins

Without your guidance and support, this publication would have never come to be

And, of course, thank you to all those who submitted their artistic works

May you always continue to create your own light

The theme for the 2022-2023 edition of Dusk is...

DARKNESS

CONTENTS

Moonrise

Be

Teaghan Smallwood

The Mysterious Black Hole Cat

Nellie Steiner

New Moon

Contributed anonymously

Anxiety

Karenna Church

Blackout Poem

Contributed Anonymously

Dragon of the Night

Contributed anonymously

Sweet Death

Contributed anonymously

Sunset

Ada Friedman

Sunset Crow

Lilah Mairose

Burning Bright

Olly Bower Moonrise on

Gitchee Gummee

Mr. Paterakis

Nightfall

Word Cloud

The Blake Middle School; edited anonymously

Eyes in the Dark

Contributed anonymously; artwork by Lilah Mairose

Shadowed Eyes

Contributed anonymously

Dark Ocean Water

Hazel Alexander

Across the Ocean

Contributed anonymously War

Contributed anonymously

Midnight Lost

Contributed anonymously

When We Sleep

Lilah Mairose

Dark

Nora Shay; artwork by Lilah Mairose

In the Spaces

I Hide

Aanika Gadia; artwork by Chloe Holmstrand

Death Art

Alice Song

Dreary Night of November

Tyler Harki

Don't Eat Me!

Contributed anonymously

MOONRISE

The light was fading ever faster

Teaghan Smallwood

I slipped out of bed and Stepped into my slippers. Creeping across the main hallway, Past the great room, Through the kitchen, And into the foyer. I turned the knob on the front door and Suddenly felt a great gust of fresh air.

I leaped out into the cold night and felt relief

Drown me.

Crickets chirped, frogs hopped, And I, one with the wind and the grass and the dark, Was there.

I was there.

Standing against the wind, On the grass

In the dark. And I thought, This must be what it feels like. Not to be free, Not to be young Or happy Or grown Or sad Or alone Or grand Or unique This must be what it feels like to be.

Standing barefoot on the grass, Wind in my hair. This is how it feels to be.

The Mysterious Black Hole Cat

Nellie Steiner

New Moon

Contributed anonymously

A new moon

The sky is dark

Only a few stars can be seen

The clouds are blocking the re I look up

What a nice night

The best night for a nap under th

Anxiety

Karenna Church

It’s there. It’s always there No matter how many Meds the doctor prescribed No matter how many One-hour therapy sessions I have It’s always present to some degree Like an ink blot In the middle of a DrawingScreaming at me, “You’re not safe”

“They all hate you”

“Everything’s gonna go terrible” And sometimes, the relentless screaming, it’s just too much for me

So I let the blackness consume me and swallow me whole.

Dragon of the Night

Blackout Poem

Contributed anonymously

A dreary night with anxiety that amounted to the agony of life

This catastrophe

Beautiful!

Covered the work was a horrid contrast

White and black

The changeable deprived horror and disgust filled my heart

Unable to compose my mind

Disturbed by waking in death

Dead mother in my arms, crawling in my sleep Horror

A cold dew covered my forehead

The dim yellow light of the mood forced its way through the window His eyes were fixed on me, he wrinkled his cheeks

I escaped Fearing each soul

I had miserably given life

The horror of a mummy could not be so hideous as I gazed at him

It became the night of extreme weakness Dreams that had been a hell to me Morning dawned

My sleepiness and aching eyes opened

I issued into the streets

I feared e very turning of the street I did not return to the apartment which I felt impelled to hurry on Drenched by the rain which poured from a black sky.

Sweet Death came for us one day on wings of fire.

It wrapped Its star flecked arms around us and we broke free from the sickly shells that had been us for all of our memory. Without the weight of our guilt, our love, our beliefs, we flew unburdened.

As we flew over the ocean beneath the sun, we often saw seabirds flying alongside us, circling us. They did not fear Death, did not shy away from It as we did. They seem to have understood what we realized only after Death. That Death is not something to fear, that It will come when you are ready to go, whether you know it or not.

The wind should have been biting, but we felt no earthly sensations. Just a sense of peace washing over us, spreading from what is now our hearts, to the tips of our souls. We know, now, that Death is not horror, not pain or suffering, but something to accept. Someone who knocks at your door, and who you invite in to sit by the fire, who you offer some tea, maybe a slice of cake, and when Death leaves, you leave too.

We write this so as not to forget what death was, to not come to fear it again, to not forget once our loved ones have joined us, once we have nothing to long for from our lives on earth, once eons have passed, maybe once Earth as we know it is gone, even when we are still Here.

What or where Here is we can not write, or describe. It is Here because it is neither up nor down, nor there or there, it is not in the center of the earth, nor is it a perfect heaven above the clouds, it is just, Here.

Sunset Crow Lilah Mairose

Burning Bright Olly Bower

I rise through the sky

A great ball of fire

I soar through the air, flying high But as the day ends, I will retire

Dusk will fall Blanketing the land

As my sister rises and stands tall And I will be banned

To sit in the darkness

To wait for my turn When I will harness The light that I burn

Moonrise on Gitchee Gummee

Mr. Paterakis

The mantle of night worn in delusion since birth pierced by moonlight

NIGHTFALL

Shadows cast now become the void

Eyes in the Dark

There were eyes in the dark. I try to walk, to run away. To forget. But those eyes.

I step into the ocean, it swallows me up, up to my ankle.

I had looked into a pool at the back of a cave.

Dark as the silent sea lapping at my legs. It was rumored to show you what you most fear.

It could make or break you. I had looked in, and saw nothing. Not even a reflection.

This is great I thought I am fearless I thought But in the light of the Moon a set of eyes came into focus, watching me.

I take another step in, the water now mid thigh.

Those eyes. They hid the rage of a thousand unrealized dreams.

Of unmet goals. They hid a soul laid bare and shattered against the rocks.

Another step.

A beast’s eyes I thought

For what human could look that broken I thought

The ocean is now at my wrists.

But no, they were human. They blinked when I blinked and looked away when I looked away. They cried when I cried and screamed when I screamed.

Step again and the water rises.

They were my eyes. Just a reflection, a simple reflection. My greatest fear. My loves, my sins, my weakness and my hate. I could see it all when faced with the utter truth of myself.

Take a step, take a breath, hold it.

Myself, Another step and I am under.

Me,

I exhale, watch the bubbles rise to the surface.

What am I? I inhale, I guess I am Let the water fill my lungs Nothing

Ocean Lilah Mairose

Shadowed Eyes

Contributed anonymously

Dark Ocean Water

Hazel Alexander

Dark ocean blue Dark sky too I look out on the water And I see our doom

When the earth spins

When the sky breaks I look out on the humans And I just see hate

I see the sun rise I see the sun fall

We are really just waiting For the fall of us all

Across the Ocean

Contributed anonymously

Across the ocean Deep and dark

I pace in motion

You lie on a rock

I wait for you

You start sleeping

I hope you miss me too

You stop breathing

I can’t wait to see you

War is here. Some call it a revolt, some a liberation.

The Royals hide in their underground bunkers, muttering the words of the Old Rule beneath their breaths. These words, etched onto the backs of their hearts, fall from their lips like fat, overripe fruit tumbling from the branches of the pear tree just outside the gates of the palace, yet still, the beggars eat them.

[...]

The Dragons have retreated to their mountaintop caves, content to watch us destroy each other, offering no aid from the diamond claws of the DarkWinged Legions.

The Fey, Griffins, Elves and such have retreated. Content to let humanity do what we do best. Maybe there will be nothing left of our sad, pitiful race left afterwards. Maybe we will triumph in the end.

[...]

When I heard of war I rushed to protect my country. It is the most noble cause, to protect the freedom of the people.

To protect the helpless from the greed and politics that, with the stroke of a pen, can remove their freedom.

This cause is what keeps my heart beating, this is what is etched onto the back of my heart.

This noble and true cause is why I get up in the morning. It is why I dress in my uniform, clean my sword, and why I fight with all that I have.

[...]

So do not lose hope. For even as they gather in the darkness, the wine in their wineskins drips down their wrists, like the blood that will be shed tomorrow. Whether it is ours or theirs.

Remember, my fellow patriots, my comrades, my brothers and sisters. One for their country and one country for all.

I’ll see you on the dark side of the sun.

*Sections of speech from the historical archives of Scorca. Many groups on Scorca have tried to piece together a detailed report of the downfall of the now extinct race called Humans. To read full history of Humans, see IUY.8235 in Scorca archives, Room 74. To read full speech, see X.2967 in Scorca archives, Room 6. To read about the eating habits of Dragons see ERD.153 in Scorca archives, Room 2. For more accurate and factual information for use in scientific, educational, or researchful purposes, see our Full Encyclopedia of Basic Facts On All Species.

MIDNIGHT

Darkness courses, eternal, through my veins

Everything feels wrong, twisted–so cold, it’s blinding, swords and daggers slashing at you from all angles. The emptiness is deep, yet somehow shallow, all at once. Swirling tendrils of twilight tear through the eerie emerald, a cooing lament from their lips, reaching for you, until they have engulfed all but your very essence. You’re fighting, you’re fighting so, so hard, a valiant effort for a valiant hero. But somehow it just gets darker, more desperate.

Sinking down, down, down

into certain oblivion. Into the sweetly malicious abyss of chaos itself.

It’s time to face the music: No one’s coming; you’re alone.

Out of air. Out of time. Out of reprieve.

It’s been too long. Far too long. And you’ve given up, acknowledging the monsters swallowing you whole. You embrace them, closing your eyes. The only greeting is pain. But then again, that’s all you’ve known for a good while. The last of the light fades, the rays that seemed to haunt this forlorn place receding. The depths salute you, welcoming you like an old friend. There’s nothing left fighting for at this point, anyways. You let the frigid water seep into your being, destroying you from the inside out. Thorns, sharp and piercing, press up against your heart. You never thought it would end like this. A plot twist, a cruel fate; call it what you will. But the truth you failed to recognize? Clear enough, from where I stand, swimming downwards, reaching for your arm: It’s too late. You’ve already drowned in your darkness.

When We Sleep

Lilah Mairose

When we sleep, the world that lives in darkness wakes, opening its dilated eyes to the inky black sky.

When we sleep, stars blink, running across the sky to keep up with the moon, who’s being chased by the sun.

When we sleep, the creatures we’ve only heard of crawl outside our homes, feasting on the shadows and laughing at the moon.

When we sleep, the darkness that swallows everything is a void of desperation and fear, but also a comforting shoulder to lean on when things get hard.

When we wake all the shadows are gone, disappearing as if they were never there, taking with them all the things that lurk in the dark.

When we wake sun gives light to the day and we forget about night's dark grasp.

Dark Nora Shay; artwork by Lilah

I feel

Like everything is dark.

I’m walking down a hall

Just waiting And waiting

For a light

Mairose

I trip and I fall into a room It's filled with light I reach out

Then It's dark. Once again I fall Down Down Down... It feels Like I’ll never get out.

In the Spaces I Hide

Aanika Gadia

In the spaces between the dark and the silence, I hide

In the spaces between the sunsets and the sunrises, that's where I hide

In the spaces between the twilight and the midnight, that's my plight

I hide in the shadows of those larger than me

I hide in the moonlight that expands across oceans never ending I hide in those murky waters, vicious and unrelenting and willing to drown you

I hide in the windows of perception, always seeing but never seen, only seen through Always watching, but never watched

I'm like the moon-everyone glances

But no one scrutinizes

Never seen in the day, only in the night when things grow dark and cold

So bright yet so easily hidden by clouds covering the sky and shielding others from the true horrors of the skies

So smooth and yet so riddled with craters, holes that can't be healed any more than a broken heart can be

Disappearing in the black, the all-consuming void

I am caught in the fabric of the night, suffocating with the weight of too many celestial bodies that are primed to explode at any moment and make this world cease to exist, once more Stars are sprinkled generously on the frosting of the night, slathered across the cake of the universe

People like me, we can hide anywhere

Even in the spaces between seconds. And so, in the spaces, I will hide

Shadows

Chloe Holmstrand

Death Art

Alice Song

Dreary Night of November

Tyler Harki

Dreary night of November

With an anxiety

Agony

Lifeless thing lay at my feet

Rain pattered

How can I describe my emotions

Infinite pains

Horrid contrast with his watery eyes

Feelings

For the sole purpose

My Heart

Unable to compose my mind

Disturbed by the wildest dreams

Miserable Monster

He might have spoken but I did not hear Catching and fearing each sound

I had gazed

Mingled with horror

To my sleepless and aching eyes

Don't Eat Me!

Contributed anonymously

"Please don't eat me!!!!!" I screamed. But my mom was too far into her sleepwalk by then.