Luminary Spring 2024 Pt I

Literary Arts Magazine

Table of Contents Fiction Her Eighteenth Birthday by Heide Brazier……………… 1 Dear Stranger by A Stranger…………………………… 4 The Copper Crisis by Nawra Shaik……………………… 7 Besties by Nina…………………………………………… 17

Creative Nonfiction I Flushed My Glasses Down the Toilet

by Aaminah Ajmeri……………………………………… 22 Flight Paths and Forgotten Promises: Navigating a Father’s Absence by Brianna Kaptur…………………… 37 Faking Sick by Suha……………………………………… 41 Hate on Crescent Blvd by Aaminah Ajmeri…………… 44 Falling Over an Obstacle I Thought I Could Overcome

by Cayce Arihyelle……………………………………… 47

Creative Nonfiction Continued Niagara Falls by Amana Mariam………………………… 51 Lebron James and the Oreo by Nawra Shaik………… 59 My Lovely Kitties by Daniya…………………………… 65

Poetry I Flushed My Glasses Down the Toilet by Z………… 22 The Blank Space………………………………………… 22 When I am Old by Bella DiCosola……………………… 25 The Price of Youth by Nawra Shaik…………………… 26 Prayers Unanswered by J. Brown …………………… 29 A Future We Weave by Lily Wiedholz……………… 31 Toxic by Nina…………………………………………… 33 In the Meadow by Nina………………………………… 34 Bernedoodle by Nina…………………………………… 35

Table of Contents Art Ukraine by Sasha Drahomyretska………………………… 5 Watchful Eye by Ximena Hernandez…………………… 6 Aspen Forest by Mack Feinberg………………………… 6 Maroon Bells by Mack Feinberg………………………… 15 Heart of the City by Mack Feinberg…………………… 15 The Deep Sea by Anna Holter……………………………… 16 Decor by Anna Holter……………………………………… 23

Dyslexic View by Chloe Germain………………………… 24 Coffee Spill by Ana Marjanovic………………………………… 24

Breathe Out by Scarlet Kirmis…………………………… 27 Maslow’s Pyramide by Sasha Drahomyretska…………… 28 A World of Wonder by Anna Holter…………………… 30 Sisters by Alycia Perez…………………………………… 39 Overman by Sasha Drahomyretska……………………… 39 Jelly Fish Love by Camila Velasquez………………………… 40

Art Continued Taking Food For Granted by Fareehah Siddiqui……… 46 Quetzal by Camila Velasquez…………………………… 49 Hummingbird Love by Camila Velasquez……………… 50 Light Among the Dark by David Lian………………………… 53

Misunderstood by David Lian…………………………… 54 Pieced Together by Alycia Perez……………………… 57 Coil Pot by Olexsandr Olishkevych………………………… 58 Untitled by David Lian…………………………………… 63

Looking Through the Lens - Taking Having a Roof Over Our Heads for Granted by Fareehah Siddiqui………… 63 Valuing Time With Loved Ones by Fareehah Siddiqui…64 The Beauty of Self-Sacrifice by David Lian…………… 67 Surrounded by Happiness But Filled With Sorrow by Chloe Germain…………………………………………… 69 Love but Pain…………………………………………… 70

Her Eighteenth Birthday

by Heide Brazier

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Her Eighteenth Birthday

Heide Brazier

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Her Eighteenth Birthday

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Heide Brazier

Dear Stranger Dear Stranger,

A Stranger

A human being, uncertain in existence and wholly unaware of my own. Perhaps Descartes was on to something with “I think therefore I am”. Do you think?

Logically, you do, but I will never know. A split second in my vicinity and you have become the object of a paragraph.

At first, I wasn’t going to write about you. There were far more interesting people who caught my eye. You, the person who sits in the front and looks the same as everyone else, you weren’t even on my mind in the beginning. You, who wears your self-enforced uniform of leggings and a sweatshirt everyday without fail. Maybe in the summer you spice it up with a T-shirt. But no, I wasn’t going to write about you. You were too plain, unnoticed in your subsistence. Perhaps that’s how you prefer it.

I was going to write about the quiet girl in my Euro class who gets talkative if you talk to her first but refuses to participate in class, or maybe the one that participates enough for the both of them. I could’ve even gone with the kid I see in the hallways with brightly colored hair and headphones blasting music I can hear from ten feet away. I look forward to the day I get them to hear a compliment I give them through their cacophony of 90s rock hits.

But you, you made your way into my mind. I wish I could say it’s because of a quality of yours that stood out to me, but it was the opposite. Your ultimate conformity drew me in. Conformity is something many people find difficult to break out of. It has an annoying tendency to become a parasitic bite of insecurity that rots away your insides until you couldn’t look like anyone else anymore, even if you tried. Maybe that’s the case with you. I hear your friends talk about you when you leave, and my heart aches. I look forward to seeing the day you decide that you’ve outgrown the box others in similar situations shoved you in. No doubt you’ve done some shoving yourself, but I can’t blame you, you had to survive.

One day maybe you’ll show up to my English class with a bright blue bob and a Fuck You T-Shirt and you’ll sit in the back corner instead of the front. Maybe it’ll look more like a rainbow bracelet and the same sweatshirt-and-leggings duo you’ve worn a hundred times, but maybe this time you’ll walk with a confidence that astonishes the people you call friends and gives you the gall to look them in the eyes and tell them what you really think. I just hope I’m there for it. I wish you all the best of luck.

Sincerely, A Stranger.

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Ukraine by Sasha Drahomyretska

START CREATIVE NON-FICTION SECTION

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Watchful Eye by Ximena Hernandez

Aspen Forest by Mack Feinberg

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The Copper Crisis

by Nawra Shaik

END CREDITS, ADDITIONAL VISUAL ART

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The Copper Crisis

Nawra Shaik

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The Copper Crisis

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Nawra Shaik

The Copper Crisis

Nawra Shaik

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The Copper Crisis

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Nawra Shaik

The Copper Crisis

Nawra Shaik

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The Copper Crisis

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Nawra Shaik

The Copper Crisis

Nawra Shaik

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Maroon Bells by Mack Feinberg

Heart of the City by Mack Feinberg

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The Deep Sea by Anna Holter

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Besties

by Nina Borncamp

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Besties

Nina Borncamp

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Besties

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Nina Borncamp

Besties

Nina Borncamp

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Besties

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Nina Borncamp

I Flushed My Glasses Down the Toilet

by Z I flushed my glasses down the toilet.

Closing my eyes to the atrocities of humanity.

Eyes shielded, reality fades away In the lens of ignorance, truth distorts.

Palestine’s plight out of sight, I flushed my glasses down the toilet.

Let us retrieve clarity, confront the injustice.

The Blank Space Anonymous

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Decor by Anna Holter

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Dyslexic View by Chloe Germain

Coffee Spill by Ana Marjanovic

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When I am old…

by Bella DiCosola

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The Price of Youth

by Nawra Shaik

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Breathe Out by Scarlet Kirmis

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Maslow’s Pyramide by Sasha Drahomyretska

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Prayers Unanswered

by J. Brown

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A Message From the Ocean

by Claire Borncamp

A World of Wonder by Anna Holter

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Literary Arts Magazine

END OF PART I

Special thanks to everyone who helped put Luminary together!

Julia Furukawa [Club Sponsor] ᐧ Nawra Shaik ᐧ [Creative Director AND PRODUCTION COORDINATOR] ᐧ Claire Borncamp [Editor in Chief] ᐧ Nina Borncamp [Editor in Chief] ᐧ Tina Nguyen [Art Editor] ᐧ Allison Penley [Art Editor] ᐧ Nauf Ahmad [Poetry Editor] ᐧ Lillian Svach [Poetry Editor] ᐧ Carys Stupfel [Fiction Editor] ᐧ Julia Iannicelli [Fiction Editor] ᐧ Amana Mariam [Fiction Editor] ᐧ Ava Garzaro [Fiction Editor] ᐧ Blake Noble [Creative Nonfiction Editor] ᐧ Daniya Chishty [Creative Nonfiction Editor] ᐧ Zahra Baqhari [publicity and Marketing Officer] ᐧ Aaminah Ajmeri [Publicity and Marketing Officer] ᐧ And all the Editorial Staff: Heide Brazier ᐧ Audrey J. Coe ᐧ Julia Kelly ᐧ Audrey Mills ᐧ Julia Morgan ᐧ Ama Nze ᐧ Evie Slepicka

Spring 2024