5 minute read

SPROUTING

from The Muse: Spring 2023

by Archbishop Mitty High School

from The Muse: Spring 2023, page 19

The Seed Villanelle

Guiding Light

Caitlin Molsberry ‘26

Mothers, like moons in the night, Shining with your guiding light, Shining so pure and so bright. Throughout the night and day, Even when unseen, you stay, Lighting our paths as we make our way. Words cannot enough express How much our lives are in your debt. The love in our hearts we hereby profess. Our protection, Our direction, Our inspiration.

Whether we’re together or apart, Your guiding light to us imparted, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, We love you forever and always, On good days and more on sad days.

Happy Mother’s Day!

A Ray of Sunshine

Katherine Wilcox ‘25

Surrounded by Dark

I stumble over chairs and tables

Searching for Light Which will not come

From the corner of my Eye, A single ray of Sunshine

Breaks through the dark Of my constant Day

But it is not the Light Which I long for the most It is different But it is much the same

Will it support me?

Will it light the way?

Not quite —but the Dark will ﬂee

A ray of Sunshine will lighten me

Decay with Growth

my legs move forward and forward continuously moving for what purpose?

Palm Tree Drive

Yohan Mehdizadeh ‘24

Growth is a journey, Takes time and patience

But with passion, hope and faith, The bloom within will shine anew

Palm Tree Drive

Yohan Mehdizadeh ‘24

The Plant

Raaghav Chakravarthy ‘26

Inching into the garden I see Some ﬂowers, some bushes, the occasional tree Swaying, solid, staying still I leave, with a leaf stuck on me.

Inching toward the clearing I see Some deer, hummingbirds, and a bumblebee Nestled neatly not notable But the little leaf has slipped away. Inching through the thicket I see A bear, a nightingale, and a monkey Quickly cackling, casual, carefree, I spy a sapling hiding from me.

Inching fast, breaking into a run

Through many paintings from the earth above, I spring through the nightingales, bushes, and bumblebees. Affable and appealing, altruistic and amiable

I no longer inch through the forest

For I am the tree

To Those Recovering From Trauma

Arlen Keck ‘26

To Those Recovering from Trauma,

Everyone hopes they can avoid trauma, the worst that life has to offer. Its deﬁnition varies for each person, but still equally dreadful. What's morbid is that most of us won’t have the pleasure of not being traumatized. Most of us won’t go through our lives unscathed.

However, in a sense, I think we all must go through suffering to come out the other end as better people. And it’s only through pain that we can look back and see the progress we’ve made as individuals. And I think that severity or that level of pain can be highly individualized. Sooner or later, people show which role in life they’ll serve, whether it’s for others or themselves. Every bad situation I’ve faced, whether it be brought on by myself or through fate, it’s gotten me to where I needed to be today.

Growth begins with healing from trauma. However, trauma is not a free pass to avoid suffering. It’s in that suffering and in the process that you learn the most about yourself. You learn your hate can be replaced with love, and in my experience, I gained a stronger love for the people in my life. It will never be easy, but we can at least try.

2022 was, in short, one of the hardest times of my life. For almost 365 days I wallowed in self-pity and hatred. Coming to Mitty was a new start, but the poison is still carried in my life. It would be unfair for me to say I have not hurt people, my family, or my friends. It would be false to say I’ve not hurt myself, that I have not given myself the time and the energy that I needed to grow, and that I needed to heal.

On an airplane, they tell you to put an oxygen mask on yourself before you help someone else. I think that analogy can be used to describe trauma. If you don’t take the time to heal from the events that led up to this point in your life, when you don’t take the time to process and understand what you’re going through, you can’t help anyone. In fact, in the end, you can be the reason that you and the other suffer. Traumatized people can be like a drowning victim dragging an innocent bystander down with them. I’m not saying you’re a monster for having trauma, and I’m not saying it’s your fault. What I’m saying is, this happens often. If we don’t take the time to heal, we hurt others. And I think that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve done it more times than I’d like to admit, and I’ve used it as an excuse.

Time and time again, when I’m hurt, I put the blame on others. In that sense, I’ve inﬂicted the same pain on others. And while I am still a victim of my own circumstances, that doesn’t give me an excuse. And I think only this year I have learned that the hard way. I’ve lost so many people due to my own nature and toxic behaviors. The only way I managed to change was, ironically enough, by paying more attention to myself. Taking time to look at the events that led up to this moment in my life, taking time to process the good and the bad led to nights of sobbing, screaming, asking, “Why me, why did this happen?” Why did someone not come to me? And strangely enough, I let it go. I know what happened to me. Now that I realize this, it will help me for the rest of my life. I refuse to let it ﬁnd me anymore. I’m letting it go. What happened is in the past, no matter how many times I relive the trauma, change has happened. I refuse to let my past trauma and the people who hurt me continue to hold up power over me and affect my everyday interactions. Those events will no longer affect my thought process and how I see myself. I have chosen to live my life and move on.

Even though I was given the harshest wake-up call, like a big slap in the face, I think I needed it. Now I’m happy that Mitty gave me a second chance. We as people have the capacity to do more than just heal from our trauma. With the right circumstances and mindset, anyone can change, using the terrible events in their life as a chance to reﬂect and to change for the better. And to the people that changed my life, whether you’re in it or not anymore, I thank you. And I hope to one day do the same thing you’ve done for me for someone else and change their life for the better. Your trauma isn’t your end, neither is it your beginning. It’s just the background. The main scene of the story of your life is in the present and future, which you now have control of.

Sunlight

Kori Zacher ‘23

Untitled Monosyllabic Haiku

Kori Zacher ‘23

Dew drops on a leaf

Like glass beads on bright green, a Pane that shields our lives.

Caracól

Kori Zacher ‘23

Ursa Major

Jonathan Lin ‘23

Scarlet Skirmish

Erin Chung ‘23

Highway

Jonathan Lin ‘23

Waterfall - A Triolet

Kori Zacher ‘23

River rushing, running free, Cascading down the cliff’s sharp edge, The icy water splashing me. River rushing, running free, The water roaring with esprit. I watched as I sat on my ledge: River rushing, running free, Cascading down the cliff’s sharp edge