Ode to a Book

by Tess Cadman

It’s not just a book, it’s an escape from my existence. The literary elements, characters, resolution, such a persistence.

It all transports me, breathing becomes my only subsistence. During a book, I sometimes forget that I am real. Everything on the pages, becomes such a massive deal. Drowns out the noise, there’s really nothing else I can feel.

Halfway done, I don’t want the book to end. The protagonist has become my very best friend. The conflict, drastically continues to extend.

The plot, it twists and it turns. The ending nearby, I can just faintly discern. A sequel,

Is something I desperately yearn. Final chapter, I hold on to it close. The final words, Have me entirely engrossed. I close the book, this is what I hate the very most. Back to reality, in this world so bleak. Books are something that make this universe so unique I find another on the shelf, I think I’ll have to start it this week.

By Amy Jackson

By Devyn Bossard

By Devyn Bossard

What is it?

by C. Grace Honeycutt

What am I seeing?

I see colors but no shape

I see images but no focus What is it supposed to be?

I see blue on yellow and green on blue, But no lines, no structure, What does it mean!

Is it a rhino? I think I see a horn. Are those arms? No. It can’t be. What can this be?

But what if it isn’t supposed to be something?

What if it is meant to be nothing?

What if it is just meant to be shapes and colors with no meaning?

I guess that’s okay. Not to know. Just to have shapes and colors, no lines at all. It could be a rhino, those could be arms, You’re not supposed to know. And that’s okay… Isn’t it?

All of my poetry is for you now by Sydney

Varga

My poems about others make you speechless And I hope that when you see yours They fill you with more words than you can dream of

My Friends, Pity and Fear

by C. Grace Honeycutt

Each day, I act on a bright gilded stage, Dressed to the nines, my face a changing page. I act to hide my very dearest friends, Pity and Fear are always at my ends. To my left is Fear, my friend and my guide Keeping me safe from danger at my side. On my right is Pity who won’t relent, They keep me humble and without content. My friends always here, keeping me from harm, From dangers, and others who alarm. Outsiders think I am always alone, Acting on stage, a tragedy is shown But I am not alone at all, I’m notI have my friends with me until I rot.

The Onlookers Reply to The Nymph

by Tess Cadman

In rejoinder to Sir Walter Raleigh’ s “The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd”

If all the world and love were young, Close your mouth, bite your tongue, Love can last now can’t you see, Love can last to a certain degree.

As you know things do grow old, But some things you certainly can control, Accept these gifts, and if they don’t last, Maybe your love has then surely passed.

Flowers will fade and the plants will die, You may get the impression it is awry, Take the chance: you may never know, Often times you will learn as you grow.

Accept these gifts with a grain of salt, If they don’t last nothing’s your fault, Leave at once, you gave it a thought, One would understand you gave it a shot.

Be kind, courteous, nice without fail, You can live on to tell the tale, Life is what you make of it, Nothing’s that bad, you must admit.

Your mind might be set, These promises could find fret, To live with him and be his love, Give it a try for he could be your dove.

Sybil’s Lament

by C. Grace Honeycutt

I stood at bay, there with the sun alight. Eternal Life, my soul and blind design. Each grain of sand a year, with not a fright

And yet my wish had an enormous fine.

As time went by, the bay changed overnight.

The trees grew broad and grand, the moss grew thick, The polis rose and fell all within my sight. As time went on, I felt my clock’s fine tick.

My body frail, my movement slowed to start Forever waiting for the sand to fall, Apollo gazing from his sun-bound hart, And watching as I fade into it all.

I have lived so long in the Bay of Baiae, Decaying into nature’s lovely gaze.

The Swirling Stars

by C. Grace Honeycutt

I feel my mind swirl on and on. Only focusing on what I should not. I keep looking at the stars, Each swirling in an endless whirl. Making me want to twirl- august.

No. Focus. On that town. On what is right. Keep your head screwed on tight.

Don’t look up, just look down. At the town of greens and browns. Keep your head out of the clouds.

But I can’tI can’t focusbut I must.

On work and home and all of us, But I keep looking to the stars, The swirls that welcome all that’s ours. The beauty of the blues and golds, Take me away from grimly browns That is why I keep my head in the Sky.

by Janelle Mudry

as the summer draws in its dying breath i feel a certain longing in my heart i feel my soul suffer a little death books left unread and unfinished art the sunday night of seasons claims another another year of my fleeting youth gone oh! august pains my heart like no other dreams punctuated by cicada song the autumnal wind ushers in my tears i mourn not the changing seasons, but me! soft words on the wind nobody can hear during a sunset nobody can see to say i hate august would be a lie but its end draws from me a solemn sigh

November

by Emma Galiardi

annually, i regret the snow too cold, i dislike the frost that consumes us wearing layers of clothes but will never be warm enough i miss the fall season the ability to be peacefully me the fall leaves cascading the ground but, then almost too quickly, the treacherous winter arrives my leaves are covered with snow my grass is frosted and makes loud noises when walked on crunch crunch crunch remember when we walked along those fall leaves hearing those same sounds? crunch crunch crunch it does not feel the same without you. I will not walk in the snow.

i miss us walking on the leaves. laughing. being one with each other.

Life Goes On, Days get Better

By Tess Cadman

Life goes on, days get better, just a bad day, not a bad life. Just a bad chapter, not a bad book, life goes on, days get better. Life goes on, days get better, it’s just a diagnosis, the treatment should suffice. Body caves, gives up, too weak, life goes on, days get better. Life goes on, days get better, sure, you’re in debt, but that’s the price. Just push harder, try again next time, life goes on, days get better. Life goes on, days get better, it’s a just death, he’s now with his wife. Not suffering anymore, you should be relieved, life goes on, days get better. Life goes on, days get better. Is it really just a bad day, and not a bad life? Is it really just a bad chapter, not a bad book? Life does not always go on, and days do get harder.

fly out of that window little bird your wings are trembling in fear where did the time go? mama bird your baby can not fly in her tears scared, cold, stuck below. sweet bird can you hear that that sweet melody in your ears fly out of that window little bird your wings are no longer saturated with fears

By Amy Jackson

Betty by Matt Beuermann

Tennis on the small, box television. The Australian Open. Nadal vs. Federer. Ice cream. Cream. Custard. All heaped into a large, off-white dessert bowl, likely from the 1970s. The droning buzz of the electric recliner as she slowly lies back. Bowl resting in her lap, remote resting on the arm of the chair, carefully poised to mute the onslaught of ads packed in between each set. Every so often, the wide and deep dessert spoon steadily maneuvers the sugary concoction from the bowl to her seemingly ever-pursed lips. To a young boy, she had a powerful, almost scary exterior; part of the reason he was never too fond of her. Looking back, he realizes it was just tough love –more concern, less praise and emotion –very subtle, but it was there. A dollop of the creamy mixture drips off the spoon and lands down her front. He lets out a wry giggle. She looks over and wags her spoon playfully in his direction. “You’ll miss me one day.” It might have taken thirteen years, but she was right.

By Amy Jackson

Worlds Apart

by Jason C. Merriam ’04

I never thought that I could achieve this, A moment of sheer, total wonderment. I left the shackles of the world behind To seek out enlightenment in the void. He said that it was for humanity, A journey to break all our boundaries, To find the future and forget our past.

I lost my love to the unknown cosmos.

Sacrifices had to be made, of course. Risks taken, incalculable rewards. Inherent dangers alone tremendous. Minute hope of an imminent return. I was pregnant. That could have made him stay. But can you kill a dream and not the man?

I couldn’t do it. I loved him too much.

Each night I look to the stars and wonder. The approach to lightspeed is amazing.

Planets, comets, moons, sights unseen from Earth. I have to force myself to get some sleep.

What miracles, mysteries, lie ahead?

It has been a year. I named her Deirdre. I see your face in hers. It haunts me that I may never see you, or hear from you. No contact, but the stars’ cold jealousy.

We have arrived at the Kepler system. Two of the planets are habitable.

Terraforming procedures are starting. Life from lifelessness. You would love this, Claire. You are a grandpa, Deirdre named him Sean, After you, of course. I was so angry

When they told me they’d miscalculated Days into years. It’s not your fault, my love.

God, has it been a whole year already?

The work is tough, results astonishing. Corn, soy, potatoes, even broccoli. The colony group is sustainable.

The ships are splitting up on the way back. This message is going directly home.

I’ll be scouting Tau Ceti Five briefly. Just another three months, and I’m all yours. Got your message, I laughed so hard, I cried.

Always intrepid, always the leader.

I had wished to see you one final time, But at eighty-five I’ll get a head start

To the next adventure. I’ll be okay.

I lived a full, joyful experience

With no regrets. I will always love you. May our paths cross again in the next world.

Life by

Emma Galiardi

Sometimes it is easy to forget that you are living your life.

You are so focused on your daily tasks on waking up early for practice every morning on seeing what they are posting on Instagram on what assignments were due at midnight days go by as you stress about arguments you’ve had weeks go by as you continue to complete tasks from classes months go by as you buy new clothes to match the ever-changing seasons year after year you are changing you are constantly changing every moment you have will edit your life every single moment don’t you want a good life? A fulfilling life? You have personal goals allow those moments to live your life

By Hailey McClain

Transcendence

by Jason C. Merriam ’04

I flowed seamlessly almost frictionless Through corridors of emerald nebulae. The air refreshing on my weathered face, The voice of the honored dead in my ears. The way deserted, so speed increases. I feel emptiness, no destination Of worth or meaning, rise velocity To be everywhere and nowhere at once. Coring dimensional gates cascading Spectrum explodes to possibility. Prismatic essences radiate out. Time trapped in an unknown expansion. Light slashes at the edge of perception. Inertia closing exit vectors now, Leaving ahead as the only escape. Accelerate to new existence.

Rebirth’s Yearning

by Prof. Sean Oros ’15

Winter thawing Raindrops striking Fading snow, As mists flowing Valleys hiding All below; Sun is rising Sky is clearing Warmth returning, Birdsong echoes Rivers babble Rebirth’s yearning.

reflections on the passage of time.

by Janelle Mudry

i could have. i should have. i would have. ii lay here anxious in anguish praying praying that i have enough time i sigh sighs of preemptive grief my ears ringing ringing with near-constant cricket singing singing of lonely longing for what is left left wanting to fix what i think is wrong wrong for final release to feel like theft theft, though done in mercy, feels like a crime crimes like forgetting to treasure what’s deep for whom does the bell toll? whose is its chime? cruel time, it’s because of you that i weep tick, tick, take, and take and take and take with no regard for the mess you make

Sonnet of the Emotionally Exhausted

by Colin Schroyer

Contracting; dilating; watching my Thoughts hyper-saturated by every Word, inflection, or phrase that I try

To rectify my mind and set it free.

My hands. I can’t stop them. They seem to want

To rise and fall and praise. I know I can’t Assess every nuance that seems to haunt

My life. I know that I shan’t, but it’s just Synaptic haptic feedback loops, all while The natural chemicals will surge along

To fill the neurons with vain denial

Of precious hope in spite of what is wrong. Oh Lord, please let this feeling come to pass! Dear Lord, why won’t this feeling come to pass?

Only Ash Remains

by Jason C. Merriam ’04

One long last lazy gaze, The twisting gyre of embers fired, Falling gracelessly to languish Neath cloudy skies of shuttered moon. Rest eludes the weary. Fitful imprints of hectic days Drive worry into the witching hours With no ease to a troubled brow. The body, bereft of strength, consents To the conclave of Shade and Nod, Signifying the end of is And the beginning of could be The murky dreams that twilight spawns. The first few grays of drizzled dawn. I should not rise, for sleep I must, To lie, embrace, with Morpheus, Finding solace in the subconsciousness, Release from the cares of the mundane. Diving into the pool of ecstasy, I writhe inside the freedom of dream. Seas of endless possibility Where no cause is ever lost, Hope lies around the next bend As I rise to see your face once more.

“

No Longer”

by Katabella Byers

The way you look at me now is the way I used to look at myself in the mirror when I was 12

Observing every detail of my body with a look on your face as if you had stepped in gum

You used to smile with a grin so hard that I thought something funny had happened

But you were just happy to see me

And now, you laugh at her jokes with a laugh I only ever heard you use when your dad told a joke

At least you humor her

I had to laugh for the both of us

Hurt by Tess Cadman

Yeah, you hurt me, You hurt me so bad. I didn’t think that it would, affect me, drive me this mad. We talked and we laughed, We were together every day. I shared with you my secrets, I never thought you would go away. But there you went, Didn’t even consider my feelings. Not a thought in the world Even after all those dealings? You were there when I cried When I was sick, couldn’t sleep. You saw me at my best and my worst, This hurts, way down deep. When I turned you in, I thought it would be the end. But I got you back, With sorrow, that I didn’t intend. You came with corrections, Deductions on almost every page. It’s just a midterm paper I thought, I’ve never been filled with this much rage.

Strangers Again

by Anonymous

It’s funny how we pass in the hall and don’t say a word. We don’t even look. Maybe just a slight glance – very subtle –never too direct. Isn’t it strange how two people once so intertwined can end up like this? Like we don’t even know each other. But we do. I do.

I know your middle name. I know your family. I know your dreams. Yet here we are, in this hall, not saying a word. Making sure not to disrupt the awkward yet somehow necessary silence. We once were lovers, but now we’re strangers again.