Impressions 2024

i

ressions

2024

Table of Contents Surfer - Vincent Brogan - Front and Back Cover Ceramic - Pieter Schwab - Thank you page Tributes 3 Black and White Sunrise - Gabe Bedwell 4 I Am Lost - Rory Coleman 5 Remember - Joshua DeStefano 6 Verlust- Connor Frank 7 Sunrise - Photograph- Ron Algeo 8 A Guide to Sitting on the Beach at Sunrise - Joshua DeStefano 9 Blue Slime - Ceramic - Bradley Bennet 10 Hellish Cuisine - Michael DePolo 11 Green Car (Haiku) - Rory Coleman 12 Green Car (Ceramic) - Cooper Romanczuk 13 The Gorrilaz - Aidan Cabahug - Almonte 14 Me - Ryan Brady 15 We Gave Lemons Life - Rory Coleman & Michael DePolo 16 Lemon - Photograph - Jack Hechler 17 The Art of Driving at Sunset During a Snowstorm - Joshua DeStefano 18 Sunset - Photograph - Josh DeStefano 19 Black & White Ceramic Set - Connor Treston 20 Time - Brian Wagner 21 Adventure Time Machine Mugs - Aidan Cabahug - Almonte 22-23 Photograph - Joshua DeStefano 22-23 Dog Photograph - Jack Hechler 24-25 Nights - Jason Zurwaski 25 Two Meadows - Luke Vandevere 26 The Protector of the Earth - Blake Lee 27 Corals Lamentation - Blake Lee 28 Plastic Sea Requiem - Blake Lee 29 Twin Giants (Artwork) Rory Coleman 30-31 Scuba Divers Treasure - Blake Lee 32 Whale Shark (Sculpture) - Zachary Horwath 33 Train Photograph - Amun Smith 34 Invisible Among Us - Blake Lee 35 Traitor - Aidan Sorce 36 Inverse Hamsa - Rory Coleman 37 Eye (Artwork) - Rory Coleman 36-37 Three Faces - Gabe Bedwell 38-39

Thank You! Dear Josh DeStefano, Thank you for leading the Impressions team with your relaxed style, showing us that sometimes, the best way to handle a deadline is to keep calm and carry on. Your leadership has certainly left its mark, guiding us to many successful editions. Best of luck at Villanova!

Dear Mrs. Giordani, Thank you for creating such a welcoming and creative space for all of us.

Your thoughtful leadership ensures that every member feels included, while transforming our chaotic ideas into polished masterpieces. We truly appreciate your efforts and the positive environment you foster.

Dear Ms. Cantor, Thank you for steering us so capably and for teaching us the finer points of InDesign. Your guidance has not only improved the look of our magazine but has also equipped us with valuable skills. We’re excited to see what we will accomplish together in the coming year.

Best wishes, The Impressions Team

Pieter Schwab ‘25

I Am Lost - Rory Coleman ‘27

Gabe Bedwell '25 I am lost,

Only glancing at the cover Because they never cared to read the pages, The book that was there, It wasn’t what they wanted.

I am lost, I could never find my place here, Because this place doesn’t see me, It only makes me feel separated, It feels so condensed and yet sospacious.

I am lost While they know mine, I don’t know theirs That long walk on a nameless road, They keep shouting my name.

I am lost, I wear my mask well, with a smile, everyday in I come Hiding the agony that was Walking through that door.

I Am Lost Now read bottom to top.

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VERLUST REMEMBER

CONNOR FRANK ‘27

JOSHUA DeSTEFANO ‘24

Thinking back is unwieldy.

You are no master of the top-heavy sword.

A bolt of lightning in your hand, unpredictable as it is unloving.

Inevitably, striking down somewhere, you will weep. Do not pick up the sword.

There are worse things than a cauterized wound.

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A GUIDE TO SITTING ON THE BEACH AT SUNRISE JOSHUA DeSTEFANO ‘24

Set the alarm early, with enough time to rise and amble to the shore. It is a beautiful promise to a not-so-distant future you, an ask to experience beauty in the face of dreariness: to enter and emerge in darkness. When the alarm quakes the bedside table, stir, don’t jump to keep your forehead from gashing on the bunk’s underside.

Fumble in the darkness, regret not setting clothes out last night, and then promptly forgive yourself. Pry open the wicker basket, grabbing towels for your siblings, not yet lucid. Listen as the wooden planks creak underfoot en route to the sand.

Point out the bent nail where your blood had dyed bark crimson.

When you laugh, hide the air of worry that encroaches on every moment.

Acknowledge, as you have grown accustomed to, that this may be one of many lasts, not unique to this morning, in stark contrast to the sunrise.

As your feet displace the grains, ensure that the water is “a little chilly, but not too bad,” like every other day. Allow the breeze to stir your senses, stinging your lungs in the way you long for on the drive home before the first days of school—remember your summer reading and then promptly forget it. Joke about the bucket hats and rashguards you sported in your youth, and smile as a toddler curiously pokes a beached jellyfish with a piece of driftwood twice his size. Wonder how you were ever so little.

As beauty crests the horizon and rich hues seep into the gray, marvel at God’s commitment and competence in color theory to seldom reuse the same pigment twice. Promptly, make a promise to a not-so-distant future you that you cannot keep, and believe it all the same.

SUNRISE RON ALGEO

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BRADLEY BENNET ‘25

BLUE SLIME

Hellish Cuisine MICHAEL DePOLO ‘27

A sludge, rancid byproduct of dairy.

A wet slosh of various foliage .

A true sin for a cook to carry.

Grappled out of the Hell, kept from the ledge, Its ceramic throne hurts and twists the soul.

Straight Jackets for consumers fit them well.

Pure Pain, all their bodies take a toll.

Yet, worse than the sinners taste, the smell.

Hatred overflowing their curds and their whey.

A wave of despair flushes my spleen.

Hope evacuates out through any way, Approving as ammonia and chlorine.

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Foul, full of flaw and lacks a finish sheen, Nothing worse than coleslaw and sour cream.

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GREEN CAR RORY COLEMAN ‘27

Green Car, you’re so fly driving down that long highway, chasing down the sky.

Cooper Romanczuk ‘26 12

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ME

RYAN BRADY ‘27 Aidan CabahugAlmonte

I was born on March 19th.

It was midnight. I think that’s why I am a night person.

The Gorillaz

I receive and understand compliments, I just can’t seem to show that I am grateful.

It makes me feel selfish.

I’m 5’3 I weigh 110 pounds.

I am bad at showing my gratitude.

I am clumsy at times But coordinated at others.

I fall and trip sometimes But I can be very harmonized when I need to be I am extremely hard on myself.

It feels like my brain doesn’t accept me in a way.

I don’t see this as a bad thing, I enjoy watching nature.

The ocean and the birds and the trees.

I like to laugh with friends, eat food, and play soccer.

Hi, my name is Ryan.

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WE GAVE LEMONS LIFE RORY COLEMAN ‘27 & MICHAEL DePOLO ‘27

When someone says, “When life gives you lemons,” I disagree with them, Respectfully.

Because life did not give us lemons, WE crossbred a bitter orange and a citron, And WABAM! Lemon.

So, when something bad happens and someone says, “When life gives you lemons…”

WE are saying life gave us our problems.

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JACK HECHLER ‘26

LIFE didn’t give us our problems, WE DID. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” Is an excuse to blame LIFE for our problems.

LIFE did not give the world lemons, WE gave the world lemons.

WE gave lemons LIFE! And don’t make good out of the bad.

Rip out the lemon tree by its roots.

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A GUIDE TO DRIVING AT SUNSET DURING A SNOWSTORM JOSHUA DeSTEFANO ‘24

Bundle up in layers, and remember telling yourself that you would fix the heat in the summer months, but you thought it unimportant. Tighten the glove before you step out so you don’t fumble over the callouses in the biting. Frantically push unlock, give up, and then break the sheet to unlock the handle. Remind yourself to fix that, too. Scrape the front windshield and rear.

Turn the engine over and ride the brake diligently. Check again that the aux cord is broken, and defer to the MP3 player with the same thirty songs whose discography comforts you.

Think how beautiful a sunset is, how gentle snow looks from inside, and consider how dangerous, something beautiful.

Attempt to love the moment in contempt of its principle, and try to remember how it is that you are on the empty road.

Remember halfway through the drive the mirrors, whom you seldom check on the one-lane. Reach across to the passenger seat and out the window to brush it off at the stop sign. Open your own and try not to cut your hand on the shards from hastily leaving the garage. Remind yourself to fix that too as the flakes melt into the hull.

Grow angry at the salmon sky, at yourself for being incapable of loving it now, and in the dark regret your feverish indignation. Do not forgive yourself for reasonable perturbation amidst your rosy retrospection.

Slide through the red-light, yellow moments ago but in the four - legged ice skate. Panic for a few seconds.

Turn down the music, just for a moment, to feel the gravity of what could have been. Just as quickly forget it. Remind yourself of all the unfixable things and undertake them all the same.

Pieter Schwab ‘25

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SUNSET

JOSHUA DeSTEFANO '24

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Connor Treston '25

Time

Brian Wagner

Distress may follow the realization that the past consumes the future and present, an insatiable Beast of swelling size. The future escapes for a finite time, the present for an instant, as the past Grows ever larger, an eternal and immutable force. but this is not without chance-perhaps beauty can be gleaned. the past does not fall out of the sky to bestow itself upon the unknowing and undeserving. it is slowly crafted second by second, hour by hour, day by day. mistakes will certainly elicit grimaces reflecting a spectrum of negative emotion, but on the whole most rendered products must certainly be considered fortuitous. the past becomes something to be held forever, inscribed by hand, painstakingly, into the stone tablets of time-amongst the enumeration and elaboration of all people and all actions. in consciousness of appreciations, isn’t this eternal sanctuary worthy of gratitude?

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JOSHUA DeSTEFANO '24

Aidan Cabahug-Almonte ‘24 22

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Nights

JASON ZURAWSKI ‘27

Shall I come to my own mind in my bed Nevertheless have I slept without the love Sleepless nights upon me as she in my head Where I lost a creature as like a dove Tail-wagging reminiscents in my mind The house without barks silent as a creek The Carmel couch clean as cashmere confined Without her hair making tears down my cheek Love always lies in the past so deeply Haunting our hearts with force strong as steel Tugging on my love’s memories weekly The hurting of my head is not ideal So as long as the love sits in my head So I will have sleepless nights in my bed

JACK HECHL ER

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Two Meadows

Luke Vandevere ‘26 In a land where two meadows lie, Under the same vast, open sky. One blooms bright, a peacock & throne, In splendor, lush, they preen and roam.

Flowers bloom in vibrant hues, Nurtured by the morning dews. Peacocks flaunt in blissful scorn, Unaware of thorns mice have borne. In their land of endless bloom, Blissful ignorance masks the gloom. But mice, with hearts resilient and strong, Keep pushing the hard earth along.

Hoping for a seed to fall, To bring life back, to stand tall. The peacocks, merely blessed by fate, Found a land, serendipitously great. Bees and creatures from distances far, Bring to their meadow, each seed and star. A haven created not by their feather, But by chance, like changes in weather. Their beauty, unearned, simply thrives, In this garden where luck decides lives. Conversely, the mice, victims of mere chance, Inherit a land barren, at just a glance. No visitors come with seeds to sow, In this desolate field, where nothing will grow. Their struggle unseen by the fortunate few, In a world divided, where empathy is due. The mice, in their plight, remain unseen,

In a world that & not cruel, but unfairly serene. As seasons turn, the divide grows clear, One land in bounty, one in sheer.

A tale of two meadows, side by side, One in famine, one in pride. In closing lines, the truth we find, Nature & gifts, not always kind. But hope persists in hardest times, In barren fields, hidden rhymes.

In the mice & meadow, time stands still, A never-ending, bleak, arduous hill. No peacock & shadow will dare to tread, Where dreams fade and hopes are dead.

A silent witness to disparity & cost, In a world where only some are lost. This meadow, a mirror of sorrow & seed, Forever unbridged, in class’s creed.

BLAKE LEE ‘26

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PROTECTOR OF THE EARTH

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Coral’s Lamentation

BLAKE LEE ‘26

Plunging beneath the blue, Where vibrant corals thrived.

When they possessed a vivid hue, In the ocean’s cradle, once flourishing and alive.

A kaleidoscope of fishes, weaving through coral tapestries, Now withering in the warming tide.

Forgotten, the once effervescent and free,

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As bright corals turn to ashen white.

Now rests skeletons of coral, stark and bare.

A cemetery nestled on the ocean floor.

Echoing the beauty that once was there.

Whispers of life, now silent, forevermore.

PLASTIC SEA REQUIEM BLAKE LEE ‘26

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RORY COLEMAN ‘27

TWIN

GIANTS

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SCUBA DIVER’S TREASURE BLAKE LEE ‘26

Beneath the waves, a world apart, There awaits a tranquil realm, where wonders start.

Scuba divers descend, with bated breath, Into the depths, tempting death.

A silent, vast universe unbound, Where time ceases and self is found.

Gliding through water, blowing bubbles of air, Finding peace away from earthly despair.

Beauty unfathomable in the world above, Marine life dancing, in harmony and love.

A hidden paradise of mesmerizing hue, A place of solace for the lucky few.

Each bubble rising, my mind sets free, In this sanctuary, my heart finds glee.

My escape to a place so deep and vast, My refuge from the world in stark contrast.

Floating with the ocean’s gentle sway, My breath amplifies as my fears allay.

In these vast depths, a new world to explore, Scuba diver’s treasure, my Atlantis, forevermore.

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ZACHARY HORWATH ‘27

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INVISIBLE AMONG US BLAKE LEE ‘26

AMUN SMITH '27

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In the bustle of our days, we are ignorant of blind ways.

We walk past, without care, those who on the streets lay bare.

Invisible beings, unseen, unheard – Why do we not see their lives as our own?

Where do families find their peace, when the walls of solace cease?

Where can children laugh and sing, with no home to gather in?

A place to sleep, to eat, to read – for many, an unattainable scene.

Exposed to cold outside air, how can love and warmth be shared?

As we navigate through our lives, take pause and think of those deprived.

Let’s open our eyes, our hearts, our hands and, in the face of despair, take a stand.

For in each soul, reflection is sown – in their eyes, is our own.

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TRAITOR

AIDAN SORCE ‘27

INVERSE HAMSA RORY COLEMAN ‘27

Down I fell from purgatory With my guide at my side.

I was on my way, to Satan’s territory He said, “this trail we must not bide,” And he was off down the path.

“Where are you?” I cried.

There, lies a lath, Scribbled upon it read, “Turn back, or face my wrath.”

Onwards the path lead, I was filled with dread.

But I must find my otherworldly escort Further down the path, I head.

With a mind full of averse thoughts, I do not abort.

The path turns narrower by the second.

“So much walking,” I thought, my breath feeling short.

The bond between us felt less fond.

But there! I saw him!

He was near a pond, yet a few feet beyond.

The chances of catching him were slim, Yet my life depended on it.

The slower he got, the less I felt grim.

I had lost him near a pit.

When the rustling came from where I was blind Down I fell, after being hit.

In the pit, Satan, I would find With traitors in his mouths.

I returned to Purgatorio through stairs near his head behind.

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GABE BEDWELL ‘25

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IMPRESSIONS TEAM Joshua DeStefano '24 Blake Lee '26 Michael Singley '25

Nicholas DePolo '26 Jack Hechler '26

Connor Kendall '26 Rory Coleman '27