Aledo Catalyst Literary Arts Magazine, May 2021 // Issue 1

CATALYST LITERARY ARTS MAGAZINE MAY 2021 // ISSUE 1

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CATALYST

Literary Arts Magazine MAY 2021 Issue 1

Aledo High School 1000 Bailey Ranch Road Aledo, TX 76008 aledo.catalyst@gmail.com

CONTENTS 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

ART BY KATHRYN MANUS POEM BY LANE VOSKAMP PHOTO BY KATELYN WALTHER POEM BY EMMA WIELAND ART BY AMY JASSO ART BY MARIN WASHBURN ART BY MEREDITH BOYKIN POEM BY ANONYMOUS PHOTO BY SARA FORREST PHOTO BY MARISSA POWELL ART BY ANNIE HENRY POEM BY MICHAEL C. BROWN ART BY LUKE MAYS PHOTOS BY ROSSY TOLENTINO

STAFF 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

ART BY PAYTON TOVAR ART BY ALEX MOUNT PHOTO BY EMMA DAVENPORT ART BY GRACIELA GONZALES ART BY CLAIRE BECK LYRICS BY CATE GARTNER ART BY LILLY QUINN ART BY JASMYN JOHNSON ART BY FORD MABERRY ART BY HANNA DEBARR ART BY ANNA D’AVINO POEM BY EMMA WIELAND PHOTO BY JAMES WARD

CLAIRE KENNEDY JAMES WARD LYLA EDWARDS AVA BATHURST FAITH EMMITTE HAILEY BOGNER MADISON ALVAREZ ALEX MOUNT HANNA DEBARR PAYNE WELLMAN GRACE EDWARDS PEYTON BISHOP

ADVISER

EMILY PYEATT ARNOLD

SPECIAL THANKS JESSICA CLAFFEY ESTEE DIAZ LINDA GREENWOOD ELMI MARTINEZ MELBA POPPE JAMIE RINEHART AMBER WHEELER

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ART BY // KATHRYN MANUS 03

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ode to

MUSIC

by Lane Voskamp

It fills. It surrounds. It envelops in sound.

In it a person can become lost or found.

Organized noise, beautiful to hear.

Powerful, soft, it pierces the ear.

Music can share an idea or a thought, It can teach you more than any teacher has taught.

Music brings light to a world that is dark, And among the creators it’s creating a spark.

Fluid, flowing, flying through the air, It catches the ear like a hare in a snare.

Pushing and prodding and poking the heart, Every sound is a clear work of art.

With music, creativity knows no bounds, People filling the world with their beautiful sounds, They bring joy to others with the art they create, Their minds are something that the world celebrates.

It brings out the truth, how you feel, your emotions, It makes you feel small, you’ve been drowned in an ocean, One you cannot escape, once you get a small taste, It fills up your head with notes interlaced.

Throughout history music has been essential, A piece of our lives that is so fundamental.

Without music, this joy that we feel wiould be gone, In this infinite night, there would never be dawn.

The notes can be high or low, quiet or loud, A soft, clear voice that makes you float on a cloud.

Dark and raspy, hooking your breath, Stealing the air from inside of your chest.

But--Because of music, we can see the light.

Music is the difference between day and night.

Where kingdoms will fall and people will fade, Music never dies, it always has stayed.

Silky or rough, smooth, soft, and pure, Shaky or strong, loving, and sure.

These voices bring comfort, sadness, and tears, These voices bring pain, joy, and clear away fears.

The power of music is hard to deny, It freely gives joy that no money can buy.

It helps and it heals and it hopes every day, Music is power; it will show you the way.

They say whenever words fail, that music will speak, It humbles the strong and empowers the weak, Gives people a voice where there was none before, They can speak to others now, they cannot be ignored.

04 ODE TO MUSIC // LANE VOSKAMP

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PHOTO BY // KATELYN WALTHER 05

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UNDROWNED

by Emma Wieland Your eyes go deeper than your tears, They give away your truth beneath your sunglasses, Dear. You used to tell me everything, But now I have to pry to hear you speak.

Hey you with those sad eyes, I’m not done… don’t walk away.

This isn’t the last memory-I promise.

Breathe.

06 POEM BY // EMMA WIELAND

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ART BY // AMY JASSO 07

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08 ART BY // MARIN WASHBURN

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ART BY // MEREDITH BOYKIN 09

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AMERI

THE

The American Vine is a vine like no other.

It has no rival, equal, or brother.

The vine even overpowered its mother!

Surely this vine is great.

The Vine swears it has control of its fate.

It shows off the fruit that never blooms late.

The trunk of the vine may be riddled with hate But this is the vine that is great.

“My growth must be divine!” for the vine bears grapes that make rich wine.

A drink so enticing it glimmers and shines; This is the vine that is great.

But for all the vines speech, true or in vain, The flaws in America’s vine still remain.

10 POEM BY // ANONYMOUS

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RICANVINE Much of the vine knows nothing but pain as deep as brutal as the vine is great.

Is this vine so great?

The vine bears fruit, but drinks its own wine, and the roots cling to rocks rather than water.

What the American Vine doesn’t boast of is that some branches were given more light to begin with.

The American Vine is a vine of two tales.

So few branches see both evil and good, But the American vine could be pruned if only more would.

Yet the goodness of the vineyard’s keeper never fails, For the vineyard keeper is truly great.

PHOTO BY // SARA FORREST 11

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12 PHOTO BY // MARISSA POWELL

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ART BY // ANNIE HENRY 13

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Ode to Individuality

by Michael C. Brown

Apples and Oranges Grapes and Watermelons Gorillas and Orangutans Universes away from defaulted norms

The boredom of synchronization Gum up the clock Tastes like identity Time

Feelings of uniqueness A splash of vibrancy in the milky waters Some Canvases neglected Never to be comforted by paint Others bright and vibrant

A maze you hope will never end Wondering about remembrance A legacy to stand out Many to blend in Blend together Unwilling to fire into the dark The unknown For better or worse

Paint dries Eyes drip Authority frowns Youthful smiles Smells like freedom Consequences willing to be faced Punishment worth sacrifice Yet nothing so torturous As those worthless groundhog days Routine and repetitive

Thoughts of opportunity Chaos,fear Risk,reward Burstings The essence of vitality The sound of creativity Feelings of fulfillment Pity for those unrelatable souls Being truly alive

14 POEM BY // MICHAEL C. BROWN

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ART BY // LUKE MAYS 15

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16 PHOTO BY // ROSSY TOLENTINO

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PHOTO BY // ROSSY TOLENTINO 17

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18 ART BY // PAYTON TOVAR

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ART BY // PAYTON TOVAR 19

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20 ART BY // ALEX MOUNT

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PHOTO BY // EMMA DAVENPORT 21

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22 ART BY // GRACIELA GONZALES

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ART BY // CLAIRE BECK 23

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Is it too soon to tell you that I love you?

Some day we’re gonna be living in our wildest dreams.

We’re gonna be the ones who prove how love can last.

24 LYRICS BY // CATE GARTNER

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ART BY // LILLY QUINN 25 Folio Copy 25

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JASMYN JOHNSON 2626 ART BY //Folio Copy

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ART BY // FORD MAYBERRY 27

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28 ART BY // HANNA DEBARR

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ART BY // ANNA D’AVINO 29

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Walking through a dark forest in the middle of the night, Fully immersed in the Sights, Smells, Sounds.

An escape from reality; Feel yourself slowly slip away Into the grips of the pages, Littered with ink before you.

A dream you can walk in; Smell the Forbidden Forest after a rainstorm, See the Dragon Prince in front of your eyes, Taste the wedding cake on your lips in a romance, Hear the explosions of towns in war, Feel the love a mother has, dying for her daughter in the town square.

Reading someone else’s words, someone else’s story, someone else’s life.

Finding yourself snapping back to yours After realizing you have a Book in your hands; Finding yourself wishing to go back to their world-instead of your own.

Books are the days, the nights, we wish to return to the most.

We wish to find love as pure as the love Books have for their readers: True love.

Not mindless, Not full of stress, Not your “normal,” Whatever your “normal” may be, But rather full of warmth and comfort, only otherwise found in the arms of a loved one, that makes you feel Homeward Bound.

30 POEM BY // EMMA WIELAND 30 Folio Copy

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DREA

MING

WHIL

By Em

E AWA

ma W

KE

ieland

PHOTO BY // JAMES WARD 31 Folio Copy 31

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