Miscellanea 2022
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Miscellanea 2022
Table of contents Poem for September // Ethan Grosholz // 6 Poem for September // Laura Salley // 6 Happy // Ashley Flores // 8 Hope // Leonardo Reyes // 9 December // Dylon Hillary // 10-12 Insomnia // Tiffany Huang // 13 Drained // Harper Johnson // 14-15 Moon // Jeferson Lozano-Martinez // 16 Happy // Angel Bautista-Perez // 17 Food Review: Jellyfish // Scarlett Warren // 18 The Fay // Ash Barton // 20 Dream // Meagan Crawmer // 22-23 The Vampire // Oliver Friend // 24-25 Doubt // Kaden Jones // 26 Plagiarized Love Story // Levi C. // 27
The Moon // Emily Carver // 28 Narcissus // Anne Larsen // 28 Snail Mail // Ethan Grosholz // 30 Ode to Bubbles // Tristan Pagan // 31-32 Happiness // Sara Blowers // 33 Warning: Contains Sharps // Gabriella Sale // 34 Fear of Those // Ace Smith // 37 Trash // Hannah Long // 38 Dream // Levi C. // 40
Front Cover // Abigail Alton Inside Cover // Page Brubaker
Staff Advisor // Star Friend Editor // Anne Larsen
Photo by James Larson
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Photo by Donovan Giudice
Poems for September Red, orange, and brown Married in seasonal decay To create unending beauty A chill wind rises And with it the hackles The squirrel nudges ever deeper To hide his arboreal bounty Even as the one that granted him food and shelter Begins to rest once again And when the longest night passes When the thaw comes And the fowl takes the skies again at last We will wait in anticipation For when autumn falls again
-Ethan Grosholz Fall leaves float and fly, Telling summer a sad goodbye Vivid scarlet, Speckled brown Golden yellow Quilt on ground. 6
-Laura Salley
Photo by Talley Sublett
Photo by Ella Stine
Happy
Lots of things make me happy. I’m happiest when I’m with my friends, when I’m with family, when I’m alone. It all depends on the energy of the setting. Most of the time, when I’m with friends the energy, and environment is amazing. I truly am happiest with friends. I’m not even sure why. To be honest, I think it's because I can tell them things I can't tell anyone else. I don't think they are going to judge me, only because they are in the same position as me. I feel comfortable around them. Happy. Growing up I’d thought I’d never find that. I would see teenagers out with their friends all the time, and I never thought it would be me. I’m happy right now. And I have the people that have supported me no matter what, to thank. Although this year has not ended, I have made many great memories. I’m as happy as I can be. -Ashley Flores
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Hope I wish, almost all the time, that I could relive past experiences, or maybe make different decisions, but time is infinite, no end, and I know it’s not going to stop for one person. I think about the friends that I made the last 5 years, and how, just like that, I left. I wonder what other people have thought about me and how people think about me. I know people say that you shouldn’t care about what others think, but I can’t seem to recover from this disease. These past few days, I feel like I’ve pushed many people away from me, and I wonder if I do it on purpose or by accident. I just hope that when I die, I can truly relive and appreciate the best moments of my life. -Leonardo Reyes
Photo by Talley Sublett
“December” by Neck Deep A song worth writing about By Dylon Hilleary
As life goes on, we’ll experience a number of crushing things. This includes loss, injustice, and failure. One of the hardest things to go through and recover from is heartbreak. Losing someone that you have a deep personal connection with, whether the relationship ended on good or bad terms is devastating and can destroy someone’s mental image and health. This is often told in stories, and undoubtedly you’ll see it first hand, whether to you or to someone close to you. However, no story tells it quite like Neck Deep’s December. It takes a completely different approach to this topic and dives into the often overshadowed parts of a breakup. It has masterful storytelling that is portrayed realistically through the medium of music, and with this I’ll explain why this song exceeds the expectations of the music genre. From the very beginning we hear him voice his frustrations over her not answering his calls. Based on the rest of the song it seems like he was reaching out to her to apologize and let her know that he’s changed, even though he knows that they’re over. The line, “...you missed every call that I had tried so now I’m giving up.” accurately depicts this statement. Throughout the song he portrays his old self as cocky and insensitive, and talks about how immature that mindset truly is. With this one line we show that growth that he’s made. Instead of treating it like some artists do (Kanye West saying, “you’ll never find nobody better than me…”), he repeatedly treats her with respect during the entirety of the song without it feeling forced or fake. This is because he truly cares about her and respects her as a person even after they separated. If we fast forward a little bit, we get to the line, “I wonder if you’ll ever hear this song on your stereo…”
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The chorus of this song gives the best example of everything that has been said so far. Right away he says “I hope you get your ballroom floor, your perfect house with rose red doors.” After all they’ve been through, the hardships and adversity that had followed, he still wants the best for her. He understands that she deserves the best, even if he isn’t the one who can give her it. It’s a really sad but realistic thing to think about. While your ties with someone may be severed, it doesn’t mean that you don’t care about them anymore. He then follows this up with, “I’m the last thing you’d remember, it’s been a long, lonely December.” Once again showing that he doesn’t even entertain the thought of her remembering him, and just let’s his remorse take hold of his judgement. Whether or not she does think of him or even remember him in the slightest is never explored and it gives this song an emotional edge that most artists dream of achieving. The second verse is easily my favorite part of the song, as it shows that he wasn’t the only problem in the relationship. It was a two sided issue and while he respects her, he isn’t afraid to call her out for how she wronged him. This helps show that he has matured substantially. He isn’t putting all the blame on him or her and is acknowledging that the both of them weren’t right for each other. The line, “Cast me aside to show yourself in a better light…” shows this perfectly. After this, he says, “I came out grieving, barely breathing, and you came out alright.” This right here further shows his insecurities, due to the fact that he has no idea how it truly affected her. Another way this could be perceived is that now that he’s matured he finally understands how little she actually cared about him. Following the previous line, he confidently states, “But I’m sure you’ll take his hand, I hope he’s better than I ever could’ve been.” This line makes me tear up everytime I hear it. This is where his maturity is at its peak. He does want the best for her, and that means that he wants her to find someone that is better than him. If not, then what was the point of everything they went through? And now, for the best part of the entire song… “My mistakes were not intentions, this is a list of my confessions I couldn’t say.” “My mistakes were not intentions, this is a list of my confessions I couldn’t say.” 11
Back at the beginning of this analysis, I mentioned how he was reaching out to her just to apologize and admit that he wasn’t mature in their relationship. This line without a doubt proves it. He didn’t want to hurt her but he did, and he can’t change that. All he can do is confess that he wasn’t the best for her and move on. He then gives a line that shows the realism of this song perfectly. “Pain is never permanent but tonight it’s killing me.” Everyone says that pain isn’t permanent and that time heals all wounds, and while that’s true to an extent, I don’t believe that anyone needs to hear those words. We all know that pain isn’t permanent, but it still hurts in the moment. The “time heals all wounds'' saying has always upset me, as it’s so obvious that saying it does nothing. Juice Wrld actually summed this up perfectly when he said, “Time heals all wounds, but time can leave the nastiest scars.” Time can help heal your trauma, but the damage has already been done. All that’s left is the scar. The final part of this song is short, but it puts the icing on the cake beautifully. What he says is profoundly blunt, and the writer intended for this to be the emotional climax. The line says, “I miss your face, you’re in my head, there’s so many things that I should’ve said. A year of suffering, a lesson learned.” He then yells it out in a final moment of anguish before he truly moves on. As song lyrics, this is already perfect, but as an emotional climax it exceeds the 10/10 barrier and soars way beyond it. It’s such a masterful example of that last moment before we effectively let go of what we previously couldn’t. Throughout this story, we see a man talk about his regrets throughout a previous relationship with someone that he cared about dearly. He processes his trauma and apologizes to someone he loves, but let’s them know that they hurt him too. He gives respect to her and wishes her well, even though she isn’t with him anymore. We see a man go from deep in his own sorrow to a man who’s finally moving on. This song excels within it’s storytelling, and it’s abundantly clear that this was the intention from the start. They knew that the instrumentals, while absolutely stunning, wouldn’t be at the forefront of the song. It was going to be the lyrics and the lyrics alone. That’s what I’ve always loved about Neck Deep. 12
Photo by Ryan Stickley
Insomnia I Wish I Was asleep, Lost in my dreams, Forever at peace, But that is not easy, For sleep is impossible When you are someone who’s like me, Someone who’s constantly thinking of All I could be doing while I’m asleep.
-Tiffany Huang
Drained My brain is a void Filled with darkness That never seems to end The light upon which my resolve relied on Has been extinguished As have I I am a burnt out flame It feels as if time is both my enemy and friend As I trudge through day by day I wish for the burdens I bear to be remedied by the night But simultaneously hope for time to stand still On hopeless days the sun no longer shines And I am drowned in despair I feel like a soldier in battle Constantly barraged with Task upon task upon task All of which I have no will to complete Motivation ceases to exist when my mind falls into a bottomless pit Sometimes there is a light at the end of the tunnel When it seems as if the chaos has calmed But this fleeting moment of satisfaction Of peace 14
Is once again engulfed by dread At times it feels like everything is against me I am knocked down and before I stand to try again I fall once more The bullets of life appear to be unaffected by The protective vest that encapsulates me It feels as if the answers are forever lost Hiding somewhere in a forest of questions Always escaping my searching gaze Pressure constantly finds new ways To tighten its grip on my life Squeezing harder and harder Until I feel like a lost soul That is entirely overwhelmed My head aches with the notion Of everything that looms over me My stresses follow me like shadows Perpetual reminders Of everything that haunts me Everything that I have to do I wait for the day when it will all fall to the background When the noise in my mind will turn to quiet But am not sure it will ever come -Harper Johnson 15
Moon Round and Yellow like cheese 4.53 billion years old In a space where you would freeze Those who arrive are bold Created from mother Earth It helped give birth To life like you and I A satellite that we can’t say goodbye -Jeferson Lozano-Martinez
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Photo by Page Brubaker
Photo by Celine Reyes
Happy
When I think of the word happy I think of something someone wants to keep and never let go of. I think of people enjoying festivals or events like a massive party that never ends, or a group of friends hanging out and having fun. Fun can be described in many different ways, everyone has their idea of fun, and mine would be with my birds, watching them go crazy and talk to each other. It’s a little weird but they make me laugh somehow. They even started eating my book for some reason which didn’t bring a smile on my face. Other types of fun I enjoy are hanging out with my friends and talking about random things or just playing video games with them while we hear them talk to each other about the other person’s flaws or just hearing them get mad. This is sometimes funny except when they’re serious about it. I have a good laugh listening to them even though I know they’re joking (sometimes). I also enjoy going out and buying things, (mostly food), with my mom because she has taken me with her so much that I got used to going out. I also love pastry food and that’s the main thing I mostly buy, whenever we go to Harrisonburg we almost always stop by the bakery to buy bread. -Angel Bautista-Perez 17
Food Review: Jellyfish Are you the type of person who likes to venture out when it comes to food? Well I am. With that said, being so open to trying new foods has ended in me eating some very strange and sometimes unpleasant foods. Recently I had the opportunity to try jellyfish, my mother had seen a pack of jellyfish at foodmax, they were spicy flavored, not that it makes it any better but she thought it would be a great idea to get it and make me and my dad try it. Me and my dad had been putting off eating it for as long as possible but soon we couldn't stall her anymore and she made us try it. Off the bat it had an awful smell, I'm not sure how to explain it but the easiest way to put it would be rotting fish and the ocean. To my surprise it tasted better than it smelt. I thought jellyfish would be tough and chewy and I didnt think it would have too much of a taste. When I finally built up the courage to eat the jellyfish I first noticed the texture, it was easy to bite but was chewy at the same time. Very unique texture to say the least. The taste is what really got to me. It tasted like the very bottom of the ocean and I hated it, the spicy sauce that came with it did make the sea flavor a little less noticeable but not enough for me to like it. I can easily say I didn't like the experience of eating jellyfish but I did finish the small piece I took. I rate jellyfish a 3/10. -Scarlett Warren 18
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Photo by Ella Stine
The Fay
By Ash Barton Fays are devious tricksters With pointed toes and gnawing teeth Ivy eyes of jealous green Oleanders flowers dawn there prickly ears Their innocent cheek can fool the friendly Their giant wings only there when angry The dead trees warn they’re near Even the boldest fear Their fiercer than a troll And much more cruel Tongues slipped in two Hissing their shrew A child's tongue is their favorite snack Therefore you’ll never get it back All day long they set their traps And for you they give no craps They set their trap with a baby’s cry A trick the caring will buy As you follow the sound No baby will be found Sticky glue keeps you in place Maybe you’ll be the next cold case 20
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Photo by Scarlett Warren
Dream What is the weirdest dream you have ever experienced in your life? Well, for me, there’s been a lot of them. It’s either I have gory nightmares or the weirdest dreams you couldn’t possibly imagine! People normally say, “I’m sure you just made that up.” Ha, nope! Definitely not! I ask people, “What are your dreams?” and they say something like, “Oh I had a dream about being in the army and I was completely naked. No clothes in sight!” Then I say out loud, “That’s not even weird. Do you want to know what is weird?” and they say yeah. So are you ready to hear my dream? Let’s go! I call this the Victoria Secret dream! So, I wake up in the afternoon at my house, I head down the stairs and look at the table that has a picnic covering on top. Then I see my dog, Lucky. Surprisingly he’s flying with literally no wings at all! He shockingly speaks and says, “Why hello, Meagan. Are you ready for your day?” I look into his eyes with my own eyes widened in shock. “Uuuuhhhh, yes?” BOOM! We then teleport into the Apple Blossom Walking Mall. Everything looked the same as in real life, BUT the one thing that looks completely different is a Starbucks just standing in the middle of nowhere. So what happens next? The dog speaks and says, “Are you ready for some Starbucks? I know I am!” What do I say to that? So I head into the back of the Starbucks and look around, “I don’t even know how to make anything.” Lucky laughs at me and rolls his eyes still flying up in the air, “Well of course you don’t, silly. You know you can control your dreams, right? So think of what you want and let it come to you.” I then slap my forehead and say, “You’re right!” I think, I think, and I think even more until I get what I want! A chocolate bean frappuccino with no coffee. Pretty basic, I know. POOF, it appears in my hand! “I told you,” Lucky smirks while bending his arms and sipping his black coffee.
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Suddenly, he snaps his fingers and we appear in Victoria Secret. “What are we doing here?!” I speak in a shocked tone. Lucky groans and speaks up, “We need to get you something HOT for your mans!” I look up at him, questioning what the heck he means. “Mans? I don’t have a man. What are you on about?!” I give him a weirded out look. This must be a dream? Instantly, Lucky abruptly shouts, “Well, duh. I mean your future mans. Come on, pretty lady. Let’s get you some lingerie!” I think to myself, ‘He’s possessed. He’s got to be possessed.’ I stumble over my own two feet as I follow Lucky’s lead. He shuffles through some nice fabriced ones and says, “Ooooh that will do nicely,” he quickly tosses a white and red lace pair into my face. “Wow, thanks a lot!” He nods and flies over to more pairs.
After a few hours of looking at some things, he shoves me into the changing area and tells me to get in a stall. I roll my eyes and ignore him as I walk into one. Instantly I see this huge elephant as I enter. “Hey, I’m getting dressed here,” the elephant remarks. I look all the way up into his eyes, “How the heck did you get in here? And wait, elephants are always bare!” The dude ignores my comment and keeps on getting dressed. “Hello, I’m talking to you!” The elephant finally looks down at me and gives me a death glare. “Oh I know. But either way, let me get changed. I’m trying to get ready for my date.” I give him a, what the heck kind of look. “Yeah, and I’m getting married,” I sarcastically remark. “Now it’s my turn to get dressed.” And BAM! I wake up! What was your weirdest dream? -Meagan Crawmer
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The Vampire Taylor woke up on a foggy evening in his Washington cabin ready to start his day. He walked down the stairs to the living room and pulled on his jacket, hat, and sunglasses, and walked out the door. He walked toward the nearby lake where people often camped hoping there was someone there to provide him with his next meal. As he walked he saw a young boy who looked a lot like he did when he was younger. He began to think about how he became a vampire. He remembered walking home after a football game and cutting through an alley, then hearing something from above his head. Before he knew it he was fighting off a tall pale man, and the man bit him, but Taylor managed to hit him in the face with a metal pipe that was laying on the ground, allowing him to escape.
The next few days he felt very sick and every time he went out in the sun he would get a burning feeling that would get worse the longer he was in sunlight. Soon the burning got so bad he could no longer leave the house on sunny days, and he developed a strange craving for blood. His parents began to worry as they saw him eating raw meat from the freezer. He then started to realize that he was developing all the traits of a vampire. He began experimenting with his powers at night to find out what he could do. He ran a mile from his house to a gas station in 1 minute and 4 seconds and did this while wearing a backpack full of bricks. He was also able to lift up the front of a car and completely lift a motorcycle. He realized that living with his parents wasn’t going to work if he didn’t want them to find out he was a vampire, so he asked them if he could stay in his grandpa’s old cabin north of town. They agreed as they wanted him to be happy and he had seemed different lately.
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Taylor’s thoughts broke as the headlights of a car going by shined in his eyes. He realized he was arriving at the lake, there were tents but as he moved in to take a look he saw two young children no more than 3 years old playing at the edge of the forest behind the tents. He decided to keep looking for another victim. One without anyone accompanying them. He didn’t want to kill someone he knew had young children, so he moved on to a gas station another few miles down the road. As he approached the gas station it was completely dark and the sun had set. A perfect time for him to make a kill. He walked up to the gas station and saw a tall man push a woman into the back seat of his car and begin to drive off. Taylor ran up and held on to the back of the car. When they arrived at the man’s house he got out of the car, looked around to make sure there was no one to see him, and then dragged the woman towards his house. He opened the door and saw Taylor standing behind it. At first, he was startled and backed up but he then looked at Taylor and realized he was much smaller than him. He then threw a punch but Taylor caught it and crushed the bones in his hand. Before he could cry out, Taylor bit him on the neck and sucked the blood out of him until he was paper white. Once he finished, he saw the woman had gone to hide in the shed. He told her not to be afraid, gave her the keys to the man’s car, and disappeared into the shadows.. -Oliver Friend Photo by Zoe Conrad
Doubt Call me Orpheus And you can be Eurydice Intertwined souls, adrift in the underworld Fighting to go back home But I’ll look back as many times as it takes to leave you behind Wandering the fields of asphodel for eternity Lost, broken, wondering where I went An insignificant life waiting to become something I’ll haul myself to the overworld Feel the sun on my face And the guilt in my stomach Maybe one day, I’ll blame you for what you did Maybe one day, I’ll be happy I left you behind But for now, I let myself sink into regret And mourn what could have been -Kadan Jones
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Plagiarized Love Story Could you tell me That I haven’t gone mad when I say that you’re the only one I could ever see myself falling for again? And then, It’s something about a confession Something I’m supposed to say Or think Or maybe it was written About love And how deeply I’ve fallen into it with you. These beautiful words are for your ears only Yours to treasure Never having been held by another But that isn't true, then, Is it? Tell me my love, Please, please, Tell me that it isn’t just these false words That make you feel. That make you see me. Tell me that the only thing that isn’t true about me isn't what you’ve fallen for. So long as you don’t find out I’m a fraud Even though it’s written out plainly in every word I write I can keep living this lie, Just so long as it keeps that beautiful smile plastered on your canvas face And this will be ours. Mine and yours. All our own. Plagiarized love story. -Levi C. 27
The Moon She glows a pale, white color, Within the dark night Among all the stars Whom she shares the sky with. Beauty she prevails, Beautiful she is.
Narcissus
-Emily Carver
How beautiful it must be in the mirror that ripples do not disturb you once, nor the wind that whips across the water, slurring what stares back. How beautiful it must be near the edge to worry for nothing but the reflection that moves with you, to leave your body to flowers and the echo of a broken heart just for the chance to see yourself again. How beautiful you must have been. -Anne Larsen 28
Photo by Jasmine Cruz-Hernandez
Photo by Ethan Grosholz
Snail Mail
Nebuchadnezzar, Eat and rest yourself freely Find joy and peace here
-Ethan Grosholz
Ode to Bubbles:
A character review by Tristan Pagan
"The Wire" is a show about sleezy people doing bad things to line their pockets with money and good people being forced to compromise on their values. The show has often been acclaimed for its grey morality and it lacking a hero in the traditional sense. You could say the hero is McNulty, who we follow for all five seasons and is always actively hunting the drug dealers in the show, but he is an active womanizer motivated as much by his own ego as catching the bad guys. Omar, the Robinhood figure, adheres to a strict code of killing no innocent people but murders several drug dealers throughout the show and keeps all the money. Every character on the show has their flaws. One character overcomes them: Reginald “Bubbles” Cousins. Bubbles starts the show as a drug addict. We meet him when he and his friend Johnny are coming up with a scheme to use fake money to pay for drugs. This scheme works the first time but the second time it gets his friend Johnny beat up and put in the hospital. That is where he is approached by his friend Kima to work as an informant to help bring down the gang that beat up Johnny. The way Bubbles is introduced is genius because it shows that Bubbles is not just a drug addict. His money scam is pretty smart as he makes sure there is real money mixed in with the fake. He shows this intellect throughout the series. He shows an emotional intelligence and entrepreneurial spirit by selling stolen t-shirts and other items to people. His drug addiction is not something that happened because he was too dumb to work a normal job. He cares about Johnny enough to keep him out of harm's way and becomes an informant just to get revenge on the people who beat him up. 31
Photo by Ella Stine
Bubbles is also a people person who suffers more than most characters in the series. There is a scene where McNulty takes Bubbles along with him while he picks up his kids and Bubbles attempts to shake hands with McNulty's ex wife but she refuses to shake hands with him and gives him a dirty look. Viewers know Bubbles is a decent person who is struggling with addiction, but society doesn’t and ultimately doesn’t care about Bubbles. They see him as nothing but a dope fiend. Which leads to his rock bottom. But for all the bad stuff that happens in the show, Bubbles stays sober throughout Season 5. In the finale scene, we see him go upstairs out of the basement to have dinner with his family. In the end, Bubbles is the hero of the show not because he helps people, but because he overcomes being an addict and becomes a better person. The show is about institutions failing people and people trying to change but failing. But Bubbles does change and is one of the few characters who gets an unambiguously happy ending. He defies the odds and shows us that even at rock bottom we can still improve ourselves. 32
Happiness I can find a lot of happiness in people. I love laughing until we can’t catch our breath, reminiscing on our memories, and driving into the night with no actual destination. There are a lot of people that I can hang out with and not even do anything with them, but I am still content in happiness. I love the different aspects of people and how we all blend together. I love how funny some people are, or how emotional I can be toward someone with no judgment. I think that is the best part of having healthy relationships with people, they will take the good, bad, and ugly and not dislike you any for it. I have been in friendships that were very toxic to the point of me dreading hanging out with them. I thankfully have figured out who positively impacts my life, and love hanging out with them.
-Sara Blowers
Photo by Tiffany Huang
Warning, Contains Sharps By Gabriella Sale There's something alluringly mysterious about the broken. The common thing a person does when met with something broken is to, well, fix it. But not everything that's broken needs to be fixed, or even functions properly in its original state. To list a few things that are better broken than whole are ice, unhealthy relationships, horses, and mosaics. The list goes on and on. However, when people break, it's not often seen as a good thing. But what if it could be? Under whatever heartache, sorrow, rejection, depression, anxieties; what if there was something beautiful? Can our broken pieces be rearranged to create something different, like a mosaic? Can we take the sharp, ragged pieces of ourselves and put them together in a better way than they were before? I believe so. Some artists will purposely break something whole in order to create something new, something that has meaning to them and their vision, but it's not just artists who can do this. When humans are broken, we express raw emotions that we can't experience any other way. Maybe that's why it's referred to as breaking; the very thing keeping the emotions inside has been damaged to the point of allowing its contents to flow out freely. Maybe it's necessary to be broken so we can put ourselves back together in our own vision, rather than how we were manufactured. 34
Photo by Page Brubaker
Art by Ace Smith
Fear of Those By Ace Smith
The bus rocks us from side to side as we travel down the road. Our brains being rewarded with the time to daydream and rest. There are, of course those who chatter, their voices rising and blending together in the dark ritual of friends. Some absorb themselves in music, others drift into worries that will erase themselves on arrival, when their body rejoins the world of moving and speaking to others. I tuck myself into the cozy corner of the padded seat hugging my knees with my hoodie and cycling through songs on my MP3 player as the bus driver fiddles with the radio hoping to fill our ears with the latest country tunes. I stare out the window. As some punk song rushes to my ears. Without awareness of the road or the rain, a car moves over, closer to us, lights on full beam. I watch how the yellowed bright light played in the droplets, showing this deluge, this flood from the sky, in solitary drops. The wind pushes on the car to no avail. We are going forwards and nothing but a blessed tragedy can change that. The car gets closer so close the driver has to honk his horn to get the drivers attention he then mutters something under his breath, probably a swear. I raise the volume of my music as the back of the bus grows more restless. Unfortunately though, cheap headphones from a run down seven-eleven don’t get loud enough to cover the joking, teasing, and the lewd slurping noises of a new teen couple. That’s when she turns around; Courage Rodriguez, a name that altogether translates to, ‘the renown power of courage’, a little redundant if you ask me, but she fits it to a T. She moves her light brown braids out of the way so the cluster of boys behind her can get a good look at her bone chilling expression. I come to the conclusion that she’s either going to A: beat them up or B: throw them out the window, either way it’ll serve as entertainment.
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Trash
By Hannah Long It’s almost as if my mind is a huge garbage can filled with the garbage of my thoughts. The what if’s and the why’s all swirling around in my mind like a twister Scattering the debris of irritation and apathy around like shrapnel, Cutting and stabbing at my mind. Dealing with the trash that is my inner thoughts can be so heavy My knees buckle from the weight, As if I’m walking around with an elephant on my shoulders. Sometimes all that’s left to do is walk right in front of those that care about you and just smile Because they’ll never truly know how suffocating the garbage of your mind really is; You wouldn’t be able to put it into words. All the things people say, their profanity and ignorance bounces off the walls of my mind, Becoming another article in the garbage. Like a crumpled up piece of paper, just sitting there, meaning nothing and doing nothing But taking up precious space and time. I deal with the worries and anxieties of the days piling high on the garbage pile of my mind. Eighty percent of these thoughts won’t even happen. Further explaining why these thoughts are completely useless. Complete rubbish. Trying to control outcomes and situations is utterly exhausting, Impossible. Thinking you have hold of this one thing, this one situation. Then everything shifts. Like the sands of the ocean. The truth is I have no control over life's circumstances, Yet I try anyway. 38
Photo by Campbell Walker
Dream Dreams are not something tangible No They are something to be worked towards eternally A goal may have weight but it is not the soul motivating factor It is Motivation to become your greatest self You could convince yourself that It is just out of your reach But how is anyone making progress in that kind of environment? If you give weight to these doubts they will define you Only you can give yourself the tools for success You may think that these lies are laced with truth And To an extent you are right, I will not deny that every reality you want for yourself is realistic Some things are just too far away It’s true But it does not mean that you cannot work towards the ones that are close by Run to them. Make them yours.
-Levi C.
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Thank you for reading the 2022 edition of Miscellanea.
