Burn Literary/Arts Magazine of Marian High School in Omaha

burn [v.12] [i.1]

table of contents front and back perspective by scarlett wharton’24, eye in my lemon - ceci urbanski’23 table of contents eat a fruit by reagan graeve’24, a new day by reagan graeve’24, fahrenheit 572 by elizabeth foreman’23, language of poets by maddie smith’24 2-3 never ending by bella beck’22, etoneto by nettie knapton’22, for those who have passed by lillie devine’22, the river by ellie peter’24, remembrance by ada dyer’24 4-5 soaring wings by mia nelson’22, goodbye by julia ramadan’25, the tapestry by abby mcguire’25, the girl by jenna woodard’24 6-7 plant girl by sara steinbruck’23, hospitality by elleiana green’22, serenity by elleiana green’22, many lives by coventry thompson’25, future earth, we failed by laura torres-salvador’24 8-9 the lies of a dream by yena kelly ‘25, through the alley by christina tinley’22, a child’s dreams by kate hoppe’23, ode to the woodchuck on 108th and maple by kate hoppe’23 10-11 dichotomy by grace comstock’24, gramps by kayla brezack’22, like me by chizzy okolo’24, in and out by lily biggs’24

12-13 opservatio by tong yual’24, laika by olivia traxler’22, childhood by sofia torres-salvador’24, eccentric by scarlett wharton’24, black moon by cali d’agosto’22 14-15 overflowing by bridget mcgill’24, bowl of spaghetti by anna krupka’22, seventeen by audrey ehlers’23, your hands, my heart by ellie peter’24 16-17 recollection by scarlett wharton’24, honey, don’t color on the walls by greta justice’25, happiness in color by lizzie evans’23, writer’s block by elizabeth buescher’25 18-19 speed demon by maddie tubrick’23, name your price by eva kriener’24, where have you gone? by kaylene bialas’25, self judgment by ximena perez silva’24 20-21 sunlight by bridget mcgill’24, sunflower girl by bridget mcgill’24, fairy garden by avi kampe’24, unfiltered beauty by abby mcguire’25 22-23 fluidity by mia nelson’22, grace by mia nelson’22, we have the right to be heard by ellie fogarty’24, disappointment by elizabeth foreman’23 24-25 emotions by ava hastings’24, heavenly sisters by lily biggs’24, quiet by elizabeth buescher’25, broken thoughts by abby mcguire’25

farenheight 572 [ photo by elizabeth foreman ]

burn staff Editors: Maddie Adam, Christina Tinley, Junior Editiors: Maggie Morris, Ceci Urbanski Staff: Lily Biggs, Natalie Bullock, Lizzie Evans, Ellie Fogarty, Elizabeth Foreman, Kate Hoppe, Eva Kriener, Riya Kumar, Lilly McAndrews, Magdalena Merkle, Chizzy Okolo, Sophie Ortmeier, Mia Ramirez, Kenadie Rudloff, Maddie Smith, Brynn Ullerich, Bella Beck, Cali D’Agosto, Hai’den Davis, Elleiana Green, Maria McLeay, Melina Piperis, Anna Rasgorshek, Adelaide Witte

editorial policy Marian presents Burn, a literary arts magazine that strives to showcase the original art, photography and creative writing of our student body. Burn is published twice a year, and we accept submissions from all grade levels. Our submissions are judged anonymously, and those that are selected are subject to minor grammatical corrections. Burn is a forum for creative student expression. Our goal is to give students a place to publish their work and a place to have their peers appreciate their work. Burn is published by Regal Publishing Company in Omaha, Neb. For the 2021-2022 school year, there will be 800 copies printed per semester.

All titles of pieces and page numbers are set in Kathen font. The writing is set in Avenir Light. The softwares used were part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. Our adviser is journalism teacher Mrs. Marsha Kalkowski.

For inquiries, contact us at burn@omahamarian.org or write to us: 7400 Military Ave, Omaha, NE 68134

a new day “language of poets”

[ art by reagan graeve ]

[ writing by maddie smith ] sun flowers face the sun yet you chose to face me night and day can only exist when the other hides in the sea strike a match, light me a candle sit with me and we’ll watch it burn if you promise to hold me ‘til morning i’ll do the same in return

e

i’ll be the pen to your paper pick me up and create something new maybe through the language of poets i’ll finally get through to you

a f r uit t a

[

by art

reagan graeve

]

01

“ remembrance ” [ writing by ada dyer ] I wonder who remembers And as I stand here solemnly, The rain-eroded names Looking down at a mossy stone Carved on crumbling graves.

I wonder who finds meaning in Whose faint carvings barely whisper out the words, them, Standing there, at the edge of the cemetery, Reminiscing over “Lottie M. Bradshaw, died April 13, 1881” memories I wonder who remembers her, Connected to a name anyone at all.

Half-smudged away by Time and History.

for those who have passed [ photo by lillie devine ]

etoneto

[ photo by nettie knapton ]

02

02

“ the river ” [ writing by ellie peter ] Take me back to the river Where the water always runs clear And there’s sunshine in the valleys And the caves are always windy.

Take me back to the river Where the sun is always near And the grass grows tall And the trees don’t ever fall.

Take me back to the river Where my mother used to sing And my father used to dance.

Take me back to the river Where my brother used to laugh.

[ photo by bella beck ]

never ending

Take me back to the river, To the moon that always glowed.

Take me back to the river, Where the water used to flow.

03

goodbye [ art by julia ramadan ]

“the girl” [ writing by jenna woodard ]

04

She is the girl whose laughter bounces off the walls Whose smile lights up the halls She’s mostly silent, never violent.

But back home in the mirror I see a girl who longs to be set free From the shackles she wears and the pain she bears She is the girl with her nose in a book, not much for looks She rides alone, not very well known I wear a mask to cover the pain But no matter the pain, I will not complain But what my peers don’t see is that I am just me, That I am not the girl I wish to be People see a carefree girl, a precious pearl As innocent as a lamb, a girl who will always pass an exam The girl I wish to be Is carefree The girl I wish to be Is not me

soaring wings

[ art by mia nelson ]

“the tapestry” [ writing by abby mcguire ]

Another paper flies through the air.

Idea, gone to the waste bin It joins the ruins of a tapestry One made out of filler paper Bad sketches and blue pens A tapestry of the high school student Telling our stories and pushing against the boundaries.

05 05

“many lives” [ writing by coventry thompson ] I am not fearless I may seem that way but I fear more than anyone can ever know I fear being alone, being unloved, but most of all I fear dying suddenly without truly living So I’ve made my choice, I’ve chosen to live many lives to live through the characters and worlds I will never let go.

If I didn’t have them I feel like a piece of me would be missing They are a part of me, but they are also what I wish I was or what I could be I’ve crafted their stories carefully, and made the world around them perfectly un-perfect They say what I sometimes want to say, but they also make so many mistakes, but they will always be perfect to me.

06

serenity [ photo by elleiana green ]

hospitality [ photo by elleiana green ]

“future earth, we failed” [ writing by laura torres-salvador ] I’m sorry.

I’m sorry that your rivers have run dry, turning your surface cracked and depleted.

I’m sorry that your summers are now long and treacherous.

I’m sorry that your ground no longer serves as a home for the trees, for they can’t live here anymore.

I’m sorry that your once green surface is now as barren as a dry salt flat.

I’m sorry that you’ve lost some dear friends like the polar bear that roamed the north, and the coral that filled your oceans with color and life.

I’m sorry we failed you.

I’m sorry we took away the things you loved the most about yourself.

Im sorry that we cant call you our home anymore and that we are the reason you are hurting.

I’m sorry we couldn’t do anything to stop this from happening.

Couldn’t or wouldn’t?

I’m sorry.

plant girl [ art by sara steinbruck ]

07

through the alley [ art by christina tinley ]

08

“an ode to the woodchuck on 108th and maple” [ writing by kate hoppe ] How am I delighted so Simply in the fact I know That upon this building lawn You still scurry to and fro Is it simply that I’m fond That in this place that we have gone We have not hurt what I hold dear Rising for each dusk and dawn Oh woodchuck when I see you here One thing at least is made clear Nature does still somewhat stand Although it seems not far nor near

[ art by yena kelly ]

[ writing by kate hoppe ]

the lies of a dream

“a child’s dreams”

Nature had been dealt its hand It’s quiet drowned out by the band But nature still can fill the land My proof: the woodchuck, oh so grand

I want to fly on a paper airplane In the summer breeze Off into the deep blue sky As it’s seventy-six degrees I have heard the moon is made of the finest cheese Which I would like to try With crackers, if you please This is how I’ll live my life With nothing as it seems And every night I’ll close my eyes And dream a child’s dreams

09

Like me “Everyone’s pretty” “Everyone’s beautiful” Other people have clear milky skin Other people have silky hair that flows down their back in layers in the wind Some people have bumpy skin and acne scars.

Some people have ratty hair that cuts off when you drag a brush through it Like me “Everyone’s smart” “Everyone’s capable of anything’ Other people get straight A’s without trying, without lifting a finger

“like me”

[ writing by chizzy okolo ] Other people are ‘immersed in their community’ and active in school Some people pay attention in school and no matter how hard they try they still fail Some people apply to get into clubs and are denied from everything Like me “Apply yourself” “I’m here to help”

Everyone says all that, they don’t mean it Everyone is ‘here to help’ for a minute That’s good enough for some people Some people only need help once Unlike me “Try to join a sport” “Join other clubs” Easy for everyone to say when their run is comparable to a cheetahs Easy for everyone else to say when they have multiple hobbies and love trying new things Some people are the last to finish the mile every year And some people have multiple friends and so many talents Unlike me I feel like a black cat A social reject and a misfit

10

gr

[ art by kayl

ab

r

ack ] ez

p m s a

If everyone was a sunflower blooming in the daylight I’d be a rose pricking everyone that comes close And sometimes I look in the mirror and wanna stop making excuses Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one holding me back Typical me Sometimes i think maybe I could start running and become fast like a cheetah Sometimes I think I could study really hard and get better grades And sometimes I read a poem describing a girl A girl with knotty brown hair that’s a force to reckon with A girl who feels like they’re trying as hard as they can, and it’s just not enough A girl who just wants to feel like everyone else in the best way possible Just like me

We’re falling in and out, falling in and out My bedroom’s become a wonderland for overthinking Falling in and out, falling in and out Saw your little white tail then fell when I saw you winking Alice made sure we couldn’t say our goodbyes Your candy can’t stop me from tasting your lies Queen stole your common sense to not keep breaking my heart Cat’s got your tongue when it comes to love now you made us fall apart I hate the magical emotions and hell you put me through The worst thing is that my sister was actually right about you Couldn’t be your queen of hearts so you made me be your mad hatter Splashed your red paint on my heart now my white petals are tattered But here you come again with that little smile and cute little watch that’s always broken Maybe you actually won’t be late this time.

Maybe you’ll make time for me and you won’t lie. Maybe I’ll be your real date, Cause I’m falling in and out And here I go again falling, into your pretty little rabbit hole back down, down, down, down, down, down, down.

“in and out” [ writing by lily biggs ]

dichotomy [ art by grace comstock ]

11

black moon [ art by cali d’agosto ]

12

eccentric [ art by scarlett wharton ]

“laika” [ writing by olivia traxler ] In a few hours when the scientists see her vitals go flat, they will turn off their machines and ask for her forgiveness.

But right now she is alive and floating above the earth. It is peaceful: no noise but the ship around her, only emptiness for miles.

And as she stares out the window, the stars are twice as big as usual

“childhood” [ writing by sofia torres-salvador ]

How I wish to be a child again, to run around in the tall grass and have nothing else on my mind.

No worries, no numbers, nothing but my time and love for simple things. How I wish to have the imagination of a child again. To be able to devise such incredulous stories and make up such unimaginable characters in my mind. How time flies, I guess I just didn’t notice. But, how I wish to dream of flying and laugh and cry. How I wish to see the world with the eyes of someone who has never seen the bad. How I wish that I just hadn’t grown up so fast.

opservatio “opservatio” [art by tong yual]

[ art by tong yual ]

13

bowl of spaghetti

[ art by anna krupka ]

“seventeen” [ writing by audrey ehlers ]

as jubilous as each birthday feels, pieces of me yearn for the past. i’m on a never ending treadmill of life yet my mind longs to stay sedentary despite my body constantly advancing. my mind yearns for the delightful times of my teenage years and for my adolescence that blew away without my realization. i love the teenage years of pushing freedoms past their limits and the adrenaline of breaking past rules and discipline. i love the simple companionship under dusty pink skies where our minuscule troubles sink with the sun. i love the carefree deviation of each endeavor. i love every ounce of this teenage juvenility yet the sweet drops have become salty as each day of seventeen passes. i dread the life-defining decisions and expectations that my wandering feet are expected to fill. i dread the independence that i once desperately longed for.

14 14

overflowing [ art by bridget mcgill ]

“your hands, my heart”

[ writing by ellie peter ]

I left my heart on the bed because your hands were cold and my bed is warm.

I kept my soul with me in the shower because your hands were too dry to hold it and I’m there with it in the water.

I kept my mind in my pocket because your hands were sticky and I can keep track of it.

I kept my love in a box of bandaids because your hands were cruel and I had to put it back together.

15

honey, don’t color on the walls [ art by greta justice ]

16

happiness in color [ photo by lizzie evans ]

[ photo by lizzie evans ]

“writer’s block”

[ writing by elizabeth buescher ] Sitting Staring at an empty page The last one was so full of words But now I couldn’t fill this one Couldn’t figure out how to word this Couldn’t figure out how to say that Couldn’t think of how this will end up Written myself into a corner I couldn’t get out of So I got up Left the paper And it sat unfinished And has since.

recollection [ art by scarlett wharton ]

17

speed demon

[ [ art by maddy tubrick ]

“where have you gone?” [ writing by kaylene bialas ] Where have the days gone Where have the memories both good and bad Where have the first moments gone Do you remember still, how to do the things you used to know, All the stories you used to tell Are they still with you?

Or have they blown away, Gone, just like the snow in the spring Where have you gone Where have I Do you still do your little dance Or play your pretty song Where has all that time gone Lost, Lost, just like those before us Where one day you are seen, but not the next Play, play for me one more time Sing Sing for me one more time Speak Speak for me one more time So when it is time, I can still hear you Gone One day you will be gone But your memories will still live Where Where has all the time gone Where have I gone?

Where have you gone to

18

“self judgment” [ writing by ximena perez silva ]

name your price

[ art by eva kriener ]

Self Judgment I wish I could tell my past self stop criticizing your body the body you dislike so so much the body you criticize whenever you look into the mirror the body you pull tug and yell at “I wish you were gone” If only you knew that body of yours is beautiful if only you accepted your body the stretch marks belly rolls and thighs Maybe just maybe you could have loved yourself more If only you knew how your body from your head to your toes is truly beautiful

19

sunflower girl [ art by bridgit mcgill ]

“unfiltered beauty”

20

[ writing by abby mcguire ]

Never be perfect.

Written to amaze.

Don’t be predictable, plastic beauty.

Because perfection is ugly.

There is no truth, no depth in perfection. There is no backstory, no battlescars.

No wisdom behind the eyes.

And lifeLife is imperfect.

That is why it is beautiful.

[ art by bridget mcgill ]

sunlight

“fairy garden” [ writing by avi kampe ] you were my fairy garden both beautiful and sweet even the sun & moon were jealous but they still chose to shine their light on you and while all the stars in the sky watched, i couldn’t help but gaze upon your beauty as long as you were here, everything else seemed irrelevant

21

y

d i u it l f

[ art by mia nelson ]

We were made ruined Or maybe this world just ruined us, Our stories were clouded, But they made a bed in our minds, We sang as a cry for help, But our lips were zipped And words pulled out from within us, The act was constant, The curtain never shut, We were stamped With bruises, and cuts, And dark bags that lived under our eyes, Our days flowed away with the river And we never got a chance to say bye, Hurt was what we felt, swallowing pills of pain, Knotting our stomachs, Headaches that left us blind, Because our voices were gone, Our minds, blank, Nothing would conceal the scars that marked us, Eyes blinking, watching, staring, looking, All at us, because we were the ones who were, Made ruined.

“we have the right to be heard” [ writing by ellie fogarty ]

22 22

“disappointment”

grace

[ art by mia nelson ]

[ writing by elizabeth foreman ] It was like Stepping on a leaf But not hearing a crunch Or sleeping in ‘til noon But missing out on brunch Like a heavy winter snowfall With no school cancellation Or a wholehearted performance With no standing ovation Like a 10-hour project That only got a D It was incomprehensible And it destroyed me

23

“quiet”

[ writing by elizabeth buescher ]

That first day of school I had been looking forward to For so long It was going to be so much fun I was going to make so many friends I was going to open up But I got to school And I couldn’t speak I had nothing to say I clammed up Listening to people chat Watching people converse And I wished I could speak But what is there to say?

It’s one thing about me I wish I could change I think so much before speaking If I even find something to say And sometimes I have something to say But I can’t put it into words Silent Ashamed Wistful Sad.

heavenly sisters

24

[ art by lily biggs ]

“broken thoughts”

[ writing by abby mcguire ]

The thoughts They come, unwontedly My greatest reliant. my greatest nemesis.

They pour in, corrupted The white rusts to an unwanted brown A brain engineered by never enough’s The pictures i aspire to The “perfection” i have told myself i will never reach And the voice in my head Hates me The whispers in my mind tell me the fake truth That i And i only i believe Living in the world that i have put together The fake world that i cannot see through Trapped In my self made chains Choked By my own insecurities

emotions

[ art by ava hastings ]

My eyes are clouded By my own doing The battles fought in my imagination But i always succumb It’s a funny thing thinking

25

[ fall 2021 ]