Literary Magazine

Light and Dark

A Literary Magazine of the College of The Albemarle Spring 2014

Light and Dark

Light and Dark

Table of Contents Poets Title

Painters Page

Scott Terry.............. Will I Ever Know You / Mother Moon and Gnarled Tree....Joshua Grimes......................3 Catie Durbin.......... Heaps.......................................... Caleb Edwards..................... 5 Katlyne Preast......... Free............................................. Kenzie Byrum....................... 7 Shahjehan Khan..... Wonderful Night.......................... Lindsay Doughty.................. 9 Danielle Tuss.......... Oh Blue Wonder.......................... Amanda Johnson................11 E. G. Mckenzie....... The Winter Spider........................ Lauren Goodwin................ 13 Darvell Brown........ My Heart / Love Flows................ Danielle Tuss...................... 15 Joseph Xavier.......... Supernatural / Dark Night .......... Jessica Ingram......................17 Aaron Young.......... Ode to the Player.......................... Sunne Ann Plaquette......... 19 Brittany Hughes...... Breathe........................................ Brooke Thomas...................21 Kaylan Cannon...... What is a Sister? / Sisters............. Sunne Ann Paquette.......... 23 Dean Roughton...... The Prodigal Drosophila............... E. G. McKenzie.................. 25 Tyler Helm.............. Dragonfly Wings Beat Softly / Caribbean Blue............................Taylor Pless......................... 27

Will I Ever Know You?

by Scott Terry Before the mountains met their roots In the womb of God’s great sea And the birds in flight had yet to light Upon the gnarled tree Long before the mighty pillars so strong and true were laid and the moon was set into the loom that weaves a starry palisade Long before the angelic host first gained their wings and songs and with shouts of glee, ran their spree All through Heaven’s Halls Long before the joy of light had dawned upon the shade when Earth was fell and in darkness dwelled with no hope of accolade.

It was then that I first saw you and looked upon your face But did I know, within your glow Lay the tithing of a race?

Is God so different from you and I that he has no passing dreams?

Can clever smiles, possess me while being less than what they seem?

We let go our hands before the world And passing it from shade I found you again, (with your winsome grin) though you’re different now you’re made.

2

With flesh comes all the dressings of dross and drudgery and dread though joy comes too, with thoughts of you while down this path we tread.

As minutes chase themselves Back and forth upon my brow and seconds race across my face I see you different now.

Every moment brings along Something new to see There’s more to you than ever I knew I burn with curiosity.

I want to know you as you are!

To exhaust all my wonder!

When every inch of you, I experience too, Only then my lust will slumber!

But God looks kindly on His creatures, and when all our years are through when seconds are eased and time appeased Still I wonder: Will I ever know you?

Mother Moon and Gnarled Tree, by Joshua Grimes.

3

Heaps

by Catie Durbin We’re all just heaps of bone and flesh Studying others’ minimalistic thoughts Judging others’ fleshy hips And we put our bones to rest The moon shadows our milky, diminishing hopes of self-worth.

Self-medicated wanderers Lost and becoming more like street signs Permanently telling others when to stop and go We’re all just heaps of bone and flesh.

Scuffing up too many floors with our ankles We’re rigid and misplaced And yet we cling onto our ribs Catching our breaths for no one else to see The sun shines too brightly against pasty legs and words left unsaid We’re all just heaps of bone and flesh.

4

Heaps, by Caleb Edwards.

5

Free

by Katlyne Preast Please be free, my little girl like a windy flower, twirl put those unnerving thoughts aside you no longer need to hide pull yourself out of this whirl.

Shine, like the mollusc with its pearl let the world see you swirl Don’t let them catch you sigh, Be free, Little Girl.

Let the past of quarrel spread its wings like a merle wash away with the tide open your heart, with pride don’t succumb to the world, Be free, Little Girl.

6

Free, by Kenzie Byrum.

7

Wonderful Night

by Shahjehan Khan All my life, I wanted to see A nice pretty girl next to me With a warm smile, on her face, With all the charms and full of grace.

I have two tickets to the dance You and I will have a great romance We could dance until dawn As the music plays on.

We could dance cheek to cheek Lips to lips Dancing slowly with the slow beat As we dance in a hotel suite We could have a wonderful night.

You have brightened my life With a cool sensation night That I would say “You look beautiful tonight�

I wish, I could, be with you, All my life.

8

Wonderful Night, by Lindsay Doughty.

9

Oh, Blue Wonder

by Danielle Tuss Oh, blue wonder reflect the skies Pierce me with your aqua eyes Mock the moon, mock the sun Power like a loaded gun You sometimes fall but always rise You are fierce, youthful, vast, but wise Welcoming tears from a cloud’s cries Your morning sparkle, sure to stun Oh, blue wonder!

You stretch and yawn and waves chastise Washing away the past’s cruel lies Beauty never to be outdone You stand your ground, you never run My heart and my soul you comprise Oh, blue wonder!

10

Oh, Blue Wonder, by Amanda Johnson.

11

Winter Spider

by E.G. Mckenzie When my heart shattered like glass, The winter wind bled in, and Like a spider I concealed myself, In a web of my own making For the long winter ahead.

Afraid to expose my heart, afraid Of the bitter frostbite Waiting for the sun to shine Breaking through my webbed armor A beam to warm my chilled heart.

To woo me back into the light I have lived like a spider for Many years, hiding Around corners and out of sight Waiting Waiting for spring to re-appear.

12

The Winter Spider, by Lauren Goodwin.

13

My Heart

by Darvell Brown Open it, what do you see It’s you and me My love for you pouring out I love you is what it’s about It comes with trust It comes with honesty It comes with respect It comes with commitment Each all for you This gift is very special In a way to be official Shows the love I have for you To let you know that it’s true Wrapped inside a body Can’t give it to everybody Especially not to anybody You’re that special somebody Take it take like treasure Takes you on an adventure It is not perfect It’s you it selects My heart

14

Love Flows, by Danielle Tuss.

15

Supernatural

by Joseph Xavier I desire to walk the night, Searching for evils to fight.

Using powers beyond the natural, I’d even consider myself magical.

I’m knight hunting the night.

I shall lurk throughout the night, Tracking down evil to smite.

All while being causal.

I am the Night With all my might, I’ll cleanse the night.

It may not be rational, To fight the supernatural.

But a Winchester must always fight.

I am the Night

16

Dark Night, by Jessica Ingram.

17

Ode to the Player

by Aaron Young I am at my best When I go to places where I need no rest.

These places you will find Belong to a world of the virtual kind.

It is in these places that I’m happiest.

Some of my closest friends have no face, Random voices I hear through crackling space, Still I will fight by their side when I am at my best.

Whether I’m pulling a trigger, hitting a switch Or taking cover in the nearest ditch Racing light cycles on the Grid Or traversing lands that man has forbid There is one thing of which I’m sure I am at my best.

18

Ode to the Player, by Sunne Ann Paquette.

19

Breathe

by Brittany Hughes one two three Breathe hope pray believe Breathe out of control Breathe want no more Breathe release tearless cry Breathe one last time Breathe

20

Breathe, by Brooke Thomas.

21

What Is A Sister?

by Kaylan Cannon A sister is your rock She will be there when you fall and help wipe off the dirt and get back up.

A sister knows all your secrets and you know all hers too.

You fight and you make up Then you grow up, and you no longer share your barbies.

You share moments, memories.

You share an unbreakable bond.

22

Sisters, by Sunne Ann Paquette.

23

The Prodigal Drosophila

by Dean Roughton The fruit fly, a feckless, fecund little fellow like so many owes his existence to the fermentation process.

Conceived on a Saturday night in an overripe peach, he is content to wallow his maggoty youth in a brandied hedonism until there is nothing left to consume.

From there, he meanders away and perches on a sour mop or falls into a slimy drain, only to eke out enough sludge to sustain him for the last days of his only week of life.

24

The Prodigal Drosophila, by E. G. McKenzie.

25

Dragonfly Wings Beat Softly

by Tyler Helms Iridescent friend I have come to learn!

Your spindly legs hold a stout body And your wings beat the air softly How much more could you ask for?

You are a dragonfly And I could learn a thing or two From you About happiness

26

Caribbean Blue, by Taylor Pless.

27

The poetry in this magazine was written by students in Dean Roughton’s Creative Writing class. The images were painted by students in Patricia Sterritt’s Painting I and Painting II classes in response to the poems. The magazine was designed by Gale Flax with the assistance of Jed Buckson and printed on site at the College of The Albemarle, May 2014.

A Literary Magazine Spring 2014