Notre Dame ETC 2020

ETC...2020

Literary Contents

Etc Magazine Publication Team

Senior Editors

Jessica Gronikowski

John O’Keefe Rose Mularadelis

Title

Author Page

Prose

Title

Author Page

Detour From You

Abigail Guenther.................................................................................................... 12

Gone But Not Forgotten

Samantha John.........................................................................................................4

A Ghost

Bella Pesce.............................................................................................................. 12

A Wilted Flower

Layla Gojaniuk.........................................................................................................4

Fraying

Tiera Figaro.............................................................................................................. 12

There Are Questions

Abby Guenther.........................................................................................................4

Footprints

Angelina Fierko.......................................................................................................13

Start the Change

Kayla Losier...............................................................................................................5

Leave

Maeve Evanovich..................................................................................................13

A Mechanical World

Phoebe Kong............................................................................................................5

The Dance

Katherine G. Benjamin..........................................................................................14

Gone

Ethan Kohn.................................................................................................................5

Characters Who Never Fade

Jillian Lee..................................................................................................................14

A Promise of a Hero

Bella Everett...............................................................................................................6

Things We Don’t Know We

Without You

Collin Treacy.............................................................................................................7

Don’t Know

Estelle Kulessa.........................................................................................................15

Grandpa

Ean Chambers..........................................................................................................7

The Key to My Heart

Grace Lombardi ...................................................................................................15

Old Man

Evan Fisher.................................................................................................................7

Lambs to Slaughter

Jennifer Miller..........................................................................................................16

Side Character

Claire Meehan ........................................................................................................8

The Storm

Jessica Gronikowski...............................................................................................17

The Background

Claire Meehan ........................................................................................................8

The Tempest

Ava Wilson..............................................................................................................17

Stillness

Max Neyraval .........................................................................................................8

Fears That Follow

Trent Collins.............................................................................................................18

The Ashes Below

Kitty Vernon................................................................................................................9

Mind Games

Isabella Dussias......................................................................................................18

Raspberries

Jessica Gronikowski.................................................................................................9

Lamentations of a Madman

Katherine Benjamin................................................................................................18

Birds Fly, Fish Swim

Andrei Ramirez........................................................................................................10

???

Matthew Jakim........................................................................................................19

Soaring Separately

Christina Randazzo................................................................................................10

Typical High School Art Room

Tidal Drift

Jerry Peters............................................................................................................... 11

Translated by a Bot

Maegan Hontanosas, Daelan Hontanosas and Ashley Reme...................19

Waves in a Bath of Salt Water Brielle Ponticiello.................................................................................................... 11

ETC Staff

Caroline Anderson

Julianna Johnson

Ashley Reme

Max Neyraval

Ashley Pillsbury

Maegan Hontanosas

Daelan Hontanosas

Gabriel Truch

Claire Meehan

Kirsten Steege

Moderators

Steve Lobis

Brittany Brydges

Etc. is the annually distributed art and literary magazine of Notre Dame High School. The magazine is a showcase for all the creative talents in Notre Dame, from poetry and prose to art and photography.

The members of the Writing Irish, a co-curricular club here at Notre Dame, contribute to the compilation, layout and designs of the magazine.

We, the Editors, Staff and Advisors of Etc., would like to thank the students who submitted their art and literary work for the magazine. We would like to extend a special thanks to Joanna Barlow and Ken Jennings for their continued support of the Arts at Notre Dame and to Ms. Diane Wargo for her help in the selection process.

We would also like to extend the dedication to our graduating seniors, especially our Senior Editors, Jessica Gronikowski, John O’Keefe, and Rose Mularadelis, for all of the work, time, and effort they have put into this magazine. We wish all of our seniors the best of luck in their future endeavors in college.

Art Contents Title

Artist

Page Title

Artist

Aurora

Ryan Mc Carron .................................................... Front Cover

Forgotten Faces

Ryan McCarron .......................................................................12

It Must Have Been the Roses

Bella Everett ...............................................................................4

Steal Your Face

Cameron Holbrook..................................................................12

I Will Thrive

Alessandra Morabito................................................................4

Footprints In the Sand

Ryan McCarron........................................................................13

Dystopian Magic

Renato DiLorenzo ......................................................................5

Hidden Places

Alessandra Morabito..............................................................13

Mean Streets

Dean Cimmino ..........................................................................5

Timeless

Angela Mauro .........................................................................14

Whole World In Our Hands

Patricia Pestano ..........................................................................5

Memories of You

Ellie Lamond .............................................................................14

Earth Mother

Lucy Miles ...................................................................................5

Tiny Treasures

Mary Gillespie..........................................................................14

Lyrically Yours

Bella Everett ...............................................................................6

Pinky Promise

Amy Young.................................................................................15

Unspoken

Patricia Pestano ..........................................................................6

The Key

Lucy Miles..................................................................................15

Serene Sorrow

Cortaz Williams ........................................................................7

Seeking Shelter

Angela Siwarski........................................................................15

A Place Called Home

Ashley Pillsbury ...........................................................................7

The Things I’ve Seen

Bella Everett ..............................................................................16

Smile

Alessandra Morabito................................................................7

A Life In Photographs

Patricia Pestano ........................................................................16

Guardian Angel

Daelan Hontanosas ..................................................................7

The Analysis

Ryan McCarron........................................................................16

Dire Wolf

Eddie Emde ...............................................................................8

Lightning Gale

Ryan McCarron........................................................................16

Neon Glow

Claire Meehan...........................................................................8

The Storm

Jessica Gronikowski ................................................................17

Blue

Cortaz Williams .........................................................................8

Fly by Night

Savannah Alizio........................................................................17

The Birds

Julianna Johnson.........................................................................9

Solo

Noelle Geroso.........................................................................17

Light Up The Night

Ryan McCarron ........................................................................9

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Julianna Johnson ......................................................................18

Electric

Dean Cimmino............................................................................9

Tales from the Deep

Julianna Johnson ......................................................................18

Celestial Ocean

Joshua Gomez..........................................................................10

Listen Carefully

Alessandra Morabito..............................................................18

Avian

Jessica Gronikowski ................................................................10

Wet Floor

Josh Gomez...............................................................................19

Whirlpool

Joshua Gomez..........................................................................11

Art Goblin

Maegan Hontanosas..............................................................19

Rainbow Aquatic

Mackenzie McCarron ..........................................................11

Ode to Haring

Owen Jezek...............................................................................19

Star Vessel

Ryan McCarron........................................................................11

Nightmare Fuel

Ashley Pillsbury ........................................................Back Cover

Walk In My Shoes

Mary Gillespie .......................................................................12

Notre Dame High School • 601 Lawrence Road • Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 • Volume 32 • Issue 1

Page

Gone But Not Forgotten

Gone

by Samantha John

by Ethan Kohn

If the world were to end today, We would not know anyway.

If all things came to a halt, Would it be mankind’s fault?

Tick Tick Tick Gone.

The souls of the damned longed to leave Gone.

The ghostly frame of homes Gone.

Smoking for days…

Years.

Forever.

The day it happened.

They were gone Their ichor flower Dripping like rain.

They knew it was coming They ignored the clock They laughed It went Tick Tick Tick They scurried like rats Until the rats scurried On them, eating an eye a toe a heart Until they were gone.

Gone.

Tick Tick Tick

If everything we cherished Turns to dust and perished, Did all life become extinct Or were we just hoodwinked?

Would the earth still rotate, Without us would she wait?

Until the day we came back, From out of the deep black?

From where we came, Books will know our names.

Our story may live on Until we are truly gone.

A Wilted Flower

by Layla Gojaniuk

It Must Have Been the Roses”

There Are Questions

Bella Everett

by Abby Guenther

Who chose this way?

Did only fire get a say?

What happened to choice?

Do they not care about a hummingbird’s voice?

Our world is like a flower It’s fate is completely in our power We can nurture it and help it grow Or over time watch it go Our flower is starting to wilt And the earth cannot be rebuilt So we must water our flower now It is our only planet anyhow

Mean Streets

Dystopian Magic

Dean Cimmino

Renato DiLorenzo

Start the Change

A Mechanical World

by Kayla Losier

I am dying and my children do not care my slow demise brings them no despair The doctors scream that my fever is too high yet some of my children still claim that’s a lie They poison my water day after day my younger children will help me, I pray As my older children’s lives come to an end my youngest children now help me to mend Just posting on social media is not right they need to get active to win this fight Their shouts and protests will start the change

How could the rain stop falling?

Did it stop hearing its calling

by Phoebe Kong

As a child he didn’t play sports, But watched robots play from the sidelines of the courts, And there was no use of going to college, If droids already possessed all the knowledge, And there was no need to have a career, When machines would happily volunteer, He couldn’t write, he couldn’t cook, Because only robots could read a book, As he sat on that couch he started to doubt, The world of electronics that had come about, For instead of humans ruling the world, The takeover of robots quickly unfurled,

When did the rainbow die?

Color didn’t even get to say goodbye

And what might happen if some fateful day, The robots’ electricity was taken away,

Where did the sun go?

The world can’t thrive without its glow

How to cook, read, and clean up spills, How to perform these basic skills?

Why did the phoenix stop rising?

Because the world stopped crying

4

I Will Thrive Alessandra Morabito

Whole World In Our Hands Patricia Pestano

Earth Mother Lucy Miles

5

Without You...

Old Man

Grandpa

by Collin Treacy

by Evan Fisher

by Ean Chambers

Without you life was like a rainy day, the sun no longer smiled.

My heart was a weight I could not lift.

Many years later and the sun shines brightly.

Life is like one of your home-cooked meals.

The memories of you are the rainbows I see after a storm.

You are still with me standing by my side as my guardian angel.

As I watch you Stroll through town I wonder what has brought you down.

You used to be so full of life But now you hardly put up a fight.

You used to know What made us grow And how to keep the thorns out our toes.

But now I see you in new light A man who doesn’t know his left from right.

A man who can’t be left alone A man who lives in a dirty home.

But even in your darkest days You make me strong in every way.

when i remember you your voice so genuine laughter, filling all rooms of a lighthearted man or when i remember you laying in that casket the beautiful brown one perfect for you laying at rest, watching over us gone too soon, never forgotten i say when i remember you you amusing artist who used to be the best player in Brooklyn who used to wear that number proudly i’ll play for you through your loss i’ll play for you

Unspoken Patricia Pestano

Serene Sorrow Cortaz Williams

A Promise of a Hero

by Bella Everett

Smile

I will do anything to protect you From the dangers that will be I will provide anything for you Just to see a chuckle of glee

Alessandra Morabito

I will give you all my unconditional love So much so it will ache I will love this child to the ends of the earth A promise I will make

A Place Called Home Ashley Pillsbury

Lyrically Yours Bella Everett

Guardian Angel 6

Daelan Hontanosas

7

The Ashes Below

by Kitty Vernon

Side Character

by Claire Meehan

AntiSocial UnImportant IntroverteD IgnorEd InCompetent sHy Alone tiRed unmotivAted Self-Conscious BoThersome detachEd uninteRested

Dire Wolf

My heart is a volcano Erupting because of pain The memories have become lava, Oozing from every vein The tears I cried burned my cheeks Leaving destruction on my face This is the last time anyone Will make me feel out of place

Eddie Emde

Electric Dean Cimmino

Stillness

Blue

by Max Neyraval

It was Midnight.

The moon was high, the stars hidden in its cloak.

The town asleep, with sleeping folk. The Stillness grew thick, thicker thick, never waning, always there.

It was One. The boy never slept, not anymore, as the Stillness consumed him, blotting his will. The town never noticed, as the Stillness passed over their windowsills. When he yelled, his screams forever muffled, as loudest whispers kept him eternally troubled It was Two. The night had grown long, and the Stillness longer.

The boy was alone in his night, as the townsfolk could never sense his plight. But he saw in the next window, a faintly glowing light. Someone else the Stillness had consumed, now pacified by fright.

The boy was confused, as he knew the horrors of the Stillness. Yet in the far window, was someone he felt.

Selective yet permeating, its calm shrillness.

But yet the candle burned on.

Cortaz Williams

Light Up The Night

The Background

Raspberries

by Claire Meehan

by Jessica Gronikowski

The silence is everlasting, Negative thoughts are engrasping, Using masks to be joyous, Because my being is pointless.

A field full of raspberry bushes lays out in front of me.

Expansive, too much for my weak eye to see.

Practically invisible, Success seems impossible, A weed surrounded by flowers, I’ll forever be a coward.

Maybe someday it’ll end, But that’s not something I can comprehend, As the silence doesn’t cease, One day I’ll be at peace.

Neon Glow

Ryan McCarron

They lied.

Helplessly, I watch as my field full of raspberries, slowly decays and falters and falls apart.

A burning match singes my fingers.

I drop the match, I burn my decaying field, until nothing at all remains.

The Birds Julianna Johnson

Claire Meehan

8

9

Rainbow Aquatic Mackenzie McCarron

Whirlpool Joshua Gomez

Avian

Celestial Ocean

Jessica Gronikowski

Joshua Gomez

Birds Fly, Fish Swim

Soaring Separately

Waves in a Bath of Salt Water

by Andrei Ramirez

by Christina Randazzo

by Brielle Ponticiello

We are like fish and birds You’re always flying up so high As I always look up to you You’re now reaching heights never seen before As I will see through depths never reached before You’re going to be one among the stars As I will be the one to watch you from the sea floor

Excitedly came out of the nest waiting for you, You showed me how to fly and together we grew, Then something changed and sadly we both knew, That we would no longer soar the skies as two, The flights and journeys are no longer so blue, Because I should have known you’d fall through.

We are like the waves, Together until the final crash, Washing away the footprints, Rocking back and forth with just a single splash.

We may always be connected at heart.

But we are only just one wave apart.

Tidal Drift

by Jerry Peters

We are like the moon and the ocean Locked together in stellar motion One day, I felt a shift, And you left, ignoring my plea, And, no matter how far we drift, You will never stop affecting me.

Star Vessel Ryan McCarron

10

11

Fraying

by Tiera Figaro

We were as a fraying rope, trying desperately to hold onto the love we grew so fond of, Withering away the more we prolonged the inevitable, Seeing the end of a gorgeous chapter much sooner than expected, With life giving its final strike, Severing us into two broken strangers, Strangers thankful enough to know we’ve been loved.

Walk In My Shoes Mary Gillespie

A Ghost

Forgotten Faces

Footprints

by Angelina Fierko

We are like new shoes Boxed with new beginnings Journeying through life’s trials and tribulations Both shoes pointing in different directions Each step brings another mark To the once perfect pair

Ryan McCarron

by Bella Pesce

Footprints In the Sand

Your friend promises they’ll be there forever, Even becoming a part of who you are.

Until this friend turns into a ghost, Vanishing from your life, leaving a scar.

Ryan McCarron

Eventually, becoming just a ghost of the past, But their spirit in you can never die.

When a friend leaves, not only do they disappear, A small part of you also says goodbye.

Detour From You

Leave

by Maeve Evanovich

by Abigail Guenther

12

Steal Your Face Cameron Holbrook

Oh how much they put the car through Only to abandon it When the road got windy When the snow began to fall When they passed accident after accident When rush hour came When the road took them on a detour They continued to drive.

When the car inevitably broke down So did it’s passengers They realized This car could no longer transport two people at once The passengers left their car One walked down the road To start again The other called a taxi to continue their journey Alone

Struggling through it all, Feelings of doubt racing through my heart, Running like a car on the track, Seeing you so eager to leave, Leave like birds in the winter, Makes my heart break in two, Watching you leave, Before I’m able to say I love you.

Hidden Places Alessandra Morabito

13

Things We Don’t Know We Don’t Know

by Estelle Kulessa

What makes us this way?

We’re afraid, that’s all we know.

It’s like a bad habit That we can’t seem to let go.

What makes us this way, That we understand our pain?

We can overcome our fears, But can we overcome our brain?

Tiny Treasures Mary Gillespie

The Dance

by Katherine G. Benjamin

Memories of You

Pinky Promise

Ellie Lamond

Amy Young

Characters Who Never Fade

The Key to My Heart

by Jillian Lee

by Grace Lombardi

When the lights went down That one last time, I said goodbye to someone Who had become part of me, Like a ghost from the past.

Is gone for now, But is never forgotten, Seeming to show up again and again.

Like a locket with an incorrect key, We struggle to fit together, But you cannot complete me.

We both have our different purposes.

You keep them together, I open them up.

But no matter how many times we try to restart, Our differences will always keep us apart.

Seeking Shelter

I waltzed with you in a dance hall in Berlin, In the last golden days of the last golden year.

I was made for you Turning without trying, in weightless unison Unable to think of anyone but you, To think of any life but us.

I waited to see you again And you arrived in black boots, and I tried to ignore it Ignore that, day by day, we were dancing out of step Ignore the whispers and the banners, and hear only the waltz Lurching Faltering And I couldn’t recognize the melody anymore And on that night, I walked out into the cold An unfamiliar street An unfamiliar life And I wondered - my homeland, where have you gone?

14

Angela Siwarski

Timeless

The Key

Angela Mauro

Lucy Miles

15

The Storm

by Jessica Gronikowski

A Life In Photographs Patricia Pestano

The Analysis

Solo

Ryan McCarron

Noelle Geroso

Lambs to Slaughter

by Jennifer Miller

earth suffering under the weight of mankind too much demanded and not enough supplied so parents line up every son and daughter as if they are lambs waiting for the slaughter single file, no emotion on their faces they don’t know what their fate is and then the children take the test so they can determine who is best you are safe if the number is high If it is low this is your goodbye I know that what they do is wrong although society has let it prolong because the ones who are now alive are the ones smart enough to survive and I know that they are more than number but because of it the children must suffer

Lightning Gale

Fly by Night

Ryan McCarron

Savannah Alizio

The Things I’ve Seen Bella Everett

The Tempest

by Ava Wilson

blasphemy stuck to your fragrant lips, inaudible the vertigo of your storm raging like our scatterbrained love. rain pounds on the foundation we built drowning us in a whirlpool of flashing ivory and thunder that rattles the sand. and in the eye of a good omen, the tempest never ceased.

16

Against the Flow Alyssa Skorodinsky

she wishes to wonder. will it come true? she was born with a million dreams, and now there are barely any left. her dreams were carried away by butterflies. a hundred wishes, a thousand thoughts, a million dreams, all vanished. only butterflies remain. beauty. error. perfection. anxiety. listen to your heart, they say, it will guide you. but her heart doesn’t speak. it has no words to give. it has no blood to pump. it has no lessons to teach. it has no path to guide. only butterflies remain. we are one, the butterflies insist. we will always be a part of you. you can’t get rid of us. we will follow you to the end of the earth, to the deepest caverns, to the endless abyss of oceans. we will follow you until nothing but butterflies remain. and beyond. beyond. beyond the oceans, beyond the caves, beyond the earth. they follow her. they silence her heart. they muddle her head. no thoughts, no words, no pencils. only butterflies remain. she stands on a bridge. it is dark. the stars are numbered. only the brightest barely shine through the murkiness, through the haunted clouds, through the pollution of butterflies. one by one, they disappear. one by one, they are replaced with butterflies. what a sad sight. only butterflies remain. she sits in her car. the street is lit up by christmas lights. the car is off, and all she hears is the faint hum of a cold winter night. she is consumed by butterflies. her tears fuel them. anxiety compresses her. her whole world is caught up in a swirling storm of white butterflies, their beauty blinding her, their sharp wings scarring her. she fights back. she yells. she screams. she gives in. she sees them for what they are, a million butterflies swirling around her. trapping her. it’s almost comforting. at least something will stay with her, no matter what. she returns to her storm. only butterflies remain. a girl walks up the driveway. the butterflies trail behind her. a star is buried in the pavement, barely peaking out among the rubble. the star burns as she pulls it free. she cradles it closely to her chest. it is small, but it is hers. butterflies still remain. they will never quite go away. her dreams return. slowly, they trickle into her heart. slowly, they pull her from the storm. slowly, stars make the endless sky complete.

The Storm Jessica Gronikowski

17

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Julianna Johnson

Listen Carefully Alessandra Morabito

Wet Floor

Art Goblin

Josh Gomez

Maegan Hontanosas

Typical High School Art Room Translated by a Bot

by Maegan Hontanosas, Daelan Hontanosas and Ashley Reme

X cetra

???

by Matthew Jakim

No home, Shalom. No bills, war kills. No responsibilities, many hostilities. Is this kids?

Age 5? NOT ALIVE!

INT. Artroom in Highschool

Tales from the Deep

Children artists meet around table with papers and judge.

Julianna Johnson

Fears That Follow

Mind Games

Lamentations of a Madman

by Trent Collins

by Isabella Dussias

by Katherine Benjamin

Fears that Follow They creep at night Seeing a thing in the corner Something isn’t right.

When your mind is restless And searches for relief, Bravery attempts to prevail but fear lies beneath.

It is not the pain, but the foretaste of it It swells in the mouth, the metallic taste of things to be Demon-screeches of knowledge gone awry The twisted oracle’s perverse, provocative glee

Fears that Follow You hope and pray, Nightmares you cannot escape Scaring to this day.

The shadows that wander find a home in your brain, Engulfed by the utter silence fear drives you insane.

Come, my friend, see the degeneration Wasted time, illness, and deathbed laments Visions beyond reason’s reproach The future returns and returns to torment

STUDENT 1: Things are like more things Change is generally hard Rain is comforting STUDENT 2: Yes, Yes, No STUDENT 3: I think poem STUDENT 1 (CONT’D: later

Ode to Haring Owen Jezek

18

19

A Writing Irish Publication Notre Dame High School 601 Lawrence Road • Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 Volume 32 • Issue 1

- Dr. Seuss

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Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.

Back Cover art:

Cover art:

Nightmare Fuel

Aurora

Ashley Pillsbury

Ryan McCarron