Oracle Literary Magazine - Spring 2021

The Oracle Poetry – Art – Photography – Short Stories

Spring 2021 Bishop Canevin High School

Letter from the Editor Hello and welcome to the 2021 spring issue of the Bishop Canevin Oracle.

The Oracle is our literary magazine that showcases student writers and artists. Each school year, the Oracle publishes two volumes of poetry, short stories, art, and photography for the Bishop Canevin community.

I would like to start off by thanking Mrs. Charlotte Smith, English Department Chair and moderator of several activities, for her dedication to the English Department and the opportunity to be editor of the Oracle this school year.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to all of the contributors of this issue of the Oracle. Your work makes the magazine possible. Thank you for sharing your talents with the Bishop Canevin community.

Thank you to Renee LaGrosse for the cover photo of this issue of the Oracle. The image is the inspiration for the layout of the rest of the magazine.

The Oracle gives students the opportunity to have their works published on a smaller scale to be shared with their peers. Editing this year’s issues has given me the chance to view and select pieces by students who will most definitely surprise you with their talents.

Finally, I bid farewell to the editor’s page as I am delighted to pass on the position of Oracle Editor to my dear friend Renee LaGrosse as I take on the responsibility of Editor of the Mosaic Yearbook. I wish all the seniors the best of luck after graduation and in the real world, and I hope everyone else has a wonderful summer. See you on the pages in the fall!

Theresa Skindzier Editor

-The Oracle-

Contributors Carolyn Bigley Madison Carothers Amber Cross Alysha Cutri Katie Duca Erin Egan Dominic Elliott Shiloh Feeney Jillian Frosell Ava Gaitens Jaden Gales Alyssa Jozefowicz Lauren Kirsch Kiera Kozlowski Renee LaGrosse Tori Legleitner Clara Lucas Sophie Maida Isabella Malloy Matthew Mell Jack Mickle Sam Nicolella Frank Nicholson Garrett Nolf Gavin Nolf Nicholas Paluso Francis Skindzier Ainsley Smith Nevaeh Thornton Eli Wilson

-3-

Triumph Dominic Elliott

If you begin to regret You’ll dull your future decisions and let others make your choices for you All that’s left for you then is to die Nobody can foretell the outcome Each decision you make holds meaning Only by affecting your next decision Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions That can change your life forever When necessary We must be willing to take big risks And be prepared to lose everything Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.

Feigl Jaden Gales

Think about my life for a second. Just put yourself in my shoes As I give you a lesson about what they did to the Jews.

To tell the truth, I wasn’t even a Jew I was baptized to be Catholic just like you.

My father, a hard-working man And my mother, a caregiving woman It’s a shame that they were burned alive by another human I had to learn how to survive early I had to adapt to the environment Even if that means overcoming abandonment.

I would start a new life I now have a job, two kids and a wife I will spread and tell my experience everywhere So now the world won’t be so unaware To what’s happening in this evil world.

-The Oracle-

- Koi Fish -

Sam Nicolella Nicholas Paluso

-5-

Carolyn Bigley

- Marvelous World -

-The Oracle-

Elie Wiesel Eli Wilson

Elie Wiesel The man who inspired people all around the world Elie Wiesel The man who never gave up and kept pushing Elie Wiesel The man who survived the unthinkable Elie Wiesel You said, “I shall never forget” And we say, “We shall never forget you.”

The Outdoors Dominic Elliott

Clear sky, gentle breeze Sounds at ease The sun gazing on me Sitting on a stone bench, group of three Talking to our hearts’ content, feeling free, Catch my eyes in awe like I could freeze.

Nature is Ready Garrett Nolf

The breeze was blowing against my back The sun was shining across my face.

The sky was blue and clear as can be The tree was empty, ready to be free.

Winter was over and spring was near The rebirth of spring was almost here.

Nature was ready to start anew, Ready for fresh air and blue skies, too.

-7-

Look Down (based on the first line of Billy Collins’ poem “The Dead”) Matthew Mell

The dead are always looking down on us, they say.

I particularly do not believe this.

The idea that these people are Phoenix-like, always alive, never dead is silly.

I paced around my house to find someone to corroborate this tall tale.

That is odd…..I could not find anyone.

They must be playing a nefarious trick on me, because I remember that my whole family came over, but for what, I do not remember.

My house’s ambiance was akin to the acoustics of a library and there was a certain dullness in it that made it look like a hospice ward.

I had capricious feelings of worry; those soon subsided though, but still my mind kept going back to the thought of the dead watching us….

Suddenly, the entire house became increasingly more torrid.

There was no reason for this.

I rushed for a glass of milk, poured it, and took it back to my room.

I took a sip; it was insipid, possibly even rancid. I spit it out immediately.

My parents are going to be mad at me. I looked down at the milk splattered on the floor.

From what I saw, my physiognomy changed instantly, and the blood completely left my face.

My floor was as transparent as glass, but had a sheen to it, like a water surface, and, through it, I saw my family hovering over a bed, weeping…

That was my bed.

-The Oracle-

Shiloh Feeney

-9-

- Cakes -

Erin Egan

-The Oracle-

Gone Jack Mickle

What happens to a memory forgotten?

Does it lay down and die like a deer in the forest?

Or grow stagnant like a pond with no stream?

Does it grow stale like bread Or melt and run all over like an ice cream cone?

Maybe it just waits Like a house on the market.

Or is it remembered?

Sleep Ava Gaitens Eyes softly fluttering, flirting with the idea of sleep As my eyelashes dance on the tops of my cheeks Don’t make a sound, not even a peep I’m drifting off into a land of peace and dreams.

A sleep is gentle, no matter how deep.

Untitled Nevaeh Thornton

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too, It’s going to take the man in me to conquer this insanity.

What some find is quiet in a world full of thunder, While others are forced to contend with their lives and what their goals might be.

Maybe one day we will make it through all this disruption and focus on ourselves And let there be no interruption.

When you’re sad, you need to hear your sorrow structured into sound.

-11

Shiloh Feeney

-The Oracle-

Erin Egan

-13

Advice to the Lovelorn Shiloh Feeney

Nobody teaches you to hurt like this Just close your eyes and keep your mind wide open And so hold on when there’s nothing in you Give your tears to the tide You know, a heart can be broken, but it keeps on beating, just the same.

You’ll get through.

Unreal and Uncertain Frank Nicholson

Life is unreal, and death is uncertain.

You can watch the things you gave your life to become so broken.

It’s funny how the blessed ones have the most curses.

I just thought there would be more. I thought it’d be worth it.

Been through it; really don’t want to get into it.

But you’ve been my lifeline, girl. I’m not afraid to admit it.

What Happens to a Hope Destroyed?

Isabella Malloy

What happens to a hope destroyed?

Does it die out, gasping for air, struggling when it’s finally done?

Or does it quietly decompose – Yards deep, hidden from the sun?

Or does it run?

Does it lay like the homeless in the street, Begging for glances, desperate and in need?

Does it lurk in the corners of our minds, Waiting for its turn to speak?

Does it cry?

Does it rear its head, Spitefully refusing to lay down dead?

And will we be able to defend?

Ainsley Smith

- The Beach Turtle -

-The Oracle-

- All Alone -

Theresa Skindzier

-15

Project Frankenstein Francis Skindzier I had been called to the scene of a gruesome murder on a crisp January morning. My time of arrival was at precisely 7:30 a.m. upon which I immediately began my investigation and questioning. The total damage was one middle-aged white man, his pristine wife, and a horse, luckily the murderer was gone before he attacked and killed the two children. The children were in the murderer’s company for a bit so I began my questioning with them as they were the only surviving members of society who had seen the creature. The description the children gave me was nothing short of ludicrous and indicated that the murderer was not a human but rather some kind of monster. The creature, as described to me by the children, was humanoid in shape and towered over their father by a good foot and that was where the anomalies started. After a rigorous questioning session, the monster was said to have large leathery bat ears, a large muscular torso covered in tough protective scales, big black wings, powerful and dexterous arms that ended in human-like hands, cat-like eyes, a protruded nose and mouth with extended canine teeth, a forked tongue, a tail and multiple horns all on top of thick heavyset legs capable of holding this beast up coupled with an overall blackish oily color. The creature wore no clothing, had no gender, but carried itself in an educated and sophisticated manner. All of this and more was learned through questioning the children.

The children commented on how the monster communicated with them as it spoke without opening its mouth. Both children could feel the intelligence and power that the creature possessed through the apparent telepathic conversation that occurred. The creature conveyed that it had learned language by combing through its master’s tomes and it spoke with perfect grammar but in multiple voices at once. Even with all of that, the creature was able to explain itself to the children and why it did what it did. The monster had escaped its containment cell in a fit of rage as its creator had forgotten to feed it, learned all it could in a matter of minutes, and broke loose into the wild where it feasted on the first thing it happened upon, which was the horse that was killed. The monster was not careful to be quiet while eating and so the horse’s owner, the middle-aged man, was alerted that something was wrong and went out to confront the “robber,” whereupon he saw the monster eating his horse and promptly fired his gun at it. The shot hit the monster square in the chest but it bounced off and only served to put the monster into another rage where it immediately got rid of the man that caused it such an inconvenience. This gruesome encounter awoke the wife and when she stumbled upon this carnage, she shrieked and froze in shock, allowing the monster to easily kill her as the rage was not yet calmed.

Being created and raised in a laboratory, it came as no surprise that a monster like this was so unstable. The creature viewed its life as unfulfilling and monotonous and the creator of the monster was pleased but appalled with his creature as it proved such a feat of science was possible but probably shouldn’t exist. The other factor that aided the monster’s craziness was that it was made aware that it was, in fact, a weapon that was ordered for a particular purpose and so the monster promptly decided to escape before it was delivered. The creator would punish the monster for doing something wrong or misbehaving by not feeding it for lengths of time, but the monster came to the realization that it would be thrown into a rage if not fed for a while. So knowing this, the monster intentionally acted up, causing his creator to starve him for a while, and when the opportunity to escape presented itself during a fit of rage, the monster acted upon it without hesitation.

-The OracleBeing a creation of contemporary science, the monster was able to access all of history up until this point, all of what the monster needed to know about the world for his escape.

The monster read through his creators’ entire library in a matter of minutes before it noticed the computer sitting on the desk. The monster, being gifted with extreme intelligence, managed to connect to the computer where it had access to the entire Internet and, in less time than it took him to read all the books, learned the collective knowledge of the whole world. This newfound knowledge enlightened the monster on what was commonly good and bad, what was right and wrong, but with the added sentiment that these concepts were skewed based on who and what enforced the ideas. Now knowing that it would be persecuted for looking terrible, the monster prioritized being stealthy and secretive , but this was overridden by the other part of this creature which needed food to be quelled. The monster was also aware enough at the point when it contacted the children to know that when it raged, all bets were off and any sign of civility within itself would not be recognized until the rage subsided.

This monster’s motive appeared to be freedom and secrecy as it was aware of how it would be treated in public. Hunger drives the monster to do many things it would otherwise be incapable of doing. Its redeeming qualities are the creature’s supreme intellect, strength, apparent camouflage, and want for secrecy, but these will all be overclouded by the creature’s looks and its inability to control itself in fits of rage. The monster itself thinks that the rage was engineered like everything else so it could become a better killing weapon.

The monster appeared as if it would enjoy flowers as they are the antithesis of its own existence. They appeal to the eye as it simply cannot, being an amalgamation of numerous conflicting parts. Flowers are dainty and harmless where the monster was made for the sole purpose of destruction. Flowers are rooted to the ground, whereas the monster is warring for control within itself and will only progressively get stronger and more deadly. The monster could have very well had more secrets but, at the sound of more people, it left the children and fled off into the wild.

I left the scene at 1:07 p.m. and proceeded to write this report. It seems as no one, including the monster itself, knew that the monster was manufactured for our organization as a means of population control and also as a weapon of war. The creator did as instructed and starved the monster for the appropriate amounts of time, and the monster’s strength will increase and its control of itself will decrease as time progresses. There is biological programming within the monster that will allow us to subliminally message it to coerce it into doing what we wish it to do.

Other than the fact that the children survived, I would call this operation a complete success. The official report will be that of a rabid bear attacking a household before being scared off by children banging pots together and, of course, no one will actually believe the children. The first field test of subject FKN will be harder to dismiss by the public as the destruction will be much larger. I am looking forward to seeing this monster work with some of its other monster counterparts like YETI (commonly known as the yeti of the Himalayas) and YET4 (the American version of the yeti known as Bigfoot) or JSH (the kraken) and NES (the giant water snake known as the Loch Ness monster). FKN will make a fine addition to the flying unit of the monster crew being even more deadly than DRC or DRK units.

This has been Agent Skindzier, codename Vegas, and, as per usual, nothing extraordinary happened on this day, January 24, 2021.

-17-

Alysha Cutri

- Funhouse -

-The Oracle-

Kiera Kozlowski

-19-

Theresa Skindzier

- Never Looking Back -

-The Oracle-

Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Ceiling Tori Legleitner

I Throughout the chaos of life, Maybe the only thing that stayed constant Was the ceiling above.

II The ceiling that stayed over me.

Watched me through both the diurnal and nocturnal moments, But not even thought about.

III How is one so blind, To not have even recognized the sturdy shield of the ceiling, And yet, somehow, under the warm canopy, I felt safe, hidden.

IV Did the ceiling protect or just capture?

Keeping me in, ready to allay and mitigate all worries, Or maybe just pushing them deeper.

V How often I lay and looked back at the ceiling, Waiting for something Anything VI Both letting myself go and grasping for any control Lost under that never-ending ceiling Feeling my heart, soul, body and entire being palpitate But not feeling alive. .

VII Regret, longing, pain, guilt, sadness, tears That ceiling saw all I saw, Felt all I felt You couldn’t extricate me from my problems Or from myself.

VIII A ceiling that made everything My room, my heart, my brain Feel so capacious yet crowded Clear yet cloudy.

IX The many questions I asked myself That ceiling sucked in But they were never to be answered.

X All that I was left with was the burning “Why?” Engraved into my whole being And painted onto the ceiling of my mind.

XI I felt the pressure of the ceiling about to crumble on me, But I did not try to escape.

Just sat there with a mind racing but a body that didn’t want to move anymore, And the fleeting hope of wanting to live and not just survive.

XII Then followed….nothing Not the safe, hope-filled nothing under the safety of the ceiling No The nothing that takes over everything Ready to create its inescapable void.

XIII But that ceiling stands strong Never truly knowing the struggle going on underneath.

-21-

Perfect Imperfections Renee LaGrosse

I had a dream that I was 17 The world was perfect Couldn’t you see?

But somehow I knew It wasn’t meant for me.

God that terrible place, And we call ourselves the human race The world isn’t something you can replace The world became a terribly scary place.

Pollution filled the air Making this once beautiful place a nightmare.

Children cried acidic tears Never knowing that this was one of our worst fears.

The oceans covered cities And the few people left shared in their pities Yet this nightmare gets worse Somehow the world was perfect to 17 year old me, Isn’t that worse?

America Keira Kozlowski

This is our land A land of hope and pride Where the seas roll against the tide Where the birds sing a song of pride This is the land where we are born free.

While God still reigns in his might And the sun shines glory on our country This will be a place of forever happiness And, as each day goes by, The trees planted in the ground give us a firm history From the people who founded this star-spangled country To the people who changed it.

-The Oracle-

- The Earth -

Jillian Frosell

Sophie Maida

-23

A Flower That Grows Eli Wilson

Who was Antwan Rose?

Similar to a flower that grows A friend whom I had a pleasure to know And it was sad when we saw him go.

Who is Antwan Rose?

A student, a brother and also a friend Had ups, had downs , had losses, had wins, Had love, had passion and lots of friends.

The Cycle Gavin Nolf

The sun shines on a clear day Winter lingers with cool crisp air But it’s the turn of the season Soon there will be bees buzzing Birds will be singing Flowers will be blooming And then summer comes and goes Then fall will be here And winter will come Soon winter ends and the cycle starts all over again.

Friendship Alyssa Jozefowicz

If you can meet with triumph and disaster I’ll stand by you.

Even if we are apart, I’ll always be with you.

Friendship isn’t about being inseparable, but about being separated and knowing nothing will change.

You are not alone.

I love you.

-The Oracle-

Renee LaGrosse

Theresa Skindzier

-25-

Clara Lucas

-The Oracle-

Ahmaud Abery Renee LaGrosse

Tell me why after 57 years after King’s speech We still face injustice towards the black community How much more do we have to fight, what more do you need To see that black and white is no different from you and me.

Ahmaud Abery….was 25 and unarmed when he died I know he was black but he was no different from you and I To think that deciding to take a jog in the morning Would lead your people to slaughter this man and leave us all mourning His Death….which we will not leave in vain We will give glory and leave a legacy behind your name We won’t stop until we have our justice Until They stop killing, Just us….

What Can We Do? Renee LaGrosse

The Earth is old With silver and gold The Earth is lost With the wars and people looking to win at any cost The Earth is crying With everyone treating her like she’s dying.

The Earth is home With a safe place for us to roam But how is the Earth She doesn’t seem quite fine Will it all be worthless?

Please save the Earth Please save our home Wipe her tears away Help while you still can Or one day this poem will say – The Earth was --- Don’t make it that way.

-27-

- Under Us Katie Duca

- My Acceptance to Hogwarts Lauren Kirsch

- The Oracle -

Untitled Amber Cross

Yesterday, today, tomorrow All words we use regularly But do we really grasp what they mean?

Yesterday, the previous day, Or a missed opportunity.

Did we live that day to the fullest Like it was our last?

Did we put others before ourselves?

Did we live like how we want to be remembered?

Most of the time we just say I’ll do that later I’ll do that tomorrow Tomorrow, the next day Or an excuse, Have you realized that tomorrow never comes.

It will always be today And the day after that, tomorrow.

Today the present, Make the most of it Life is precious Today could be your last Live like that Remember where we have grown from We have improved on many things But we still are not perfect We need to remember that we are all the same Even though we may Look Think Act And be different, We are all unique but still human.

Different is okay.

Different is good.

But we want to strive to be better than we were yesterday Better than we can think to be tomorrow If we want to continue to improve We not only want to improve but we should It is an expectation that we must meet Yesterday Today Tomorrow.

They all have more than a superficial meaning.

-29

Spanish 3 Art - Self Portraits -

- Cubism -

Madison Carothers

- The Oracle -

-31-

My Years Here Renee LaGrosse

On my first day of school, I made friends with quite a few fools.

They weren’t great people But our friendship was gleeful.

At the end of the day, They never invited me to hang out on Friday.

Then sophomore year came along, I joined tennis and I felt like I belonged.

My so-called friends still sat by me, But I wanted them gone, couldn't they see.

Then COVID-19 brought in a storm, We stayed home, it was the new norm.

I sat home alone, When a true friend called my phone.

I learned then and there, That my old friends didn’t care.

I stayed up for hours, With nothing to do but plant a few flowers.

My new friends and I got closer you see, I finally found some people who liked me for me.

Here I am now, a junior finally.

I started the year off quite happily.

But hiding behind my smile and mask, Was a girl who was almost ready to crack.

Every now and then I stayed home alone, Just trying to survive, in my own home.

But you see, it wasn’t that easy, So I silently fought the demons that plagued me.

I made some more friends, Who wouldn’t pretend.

They were really there for me Even telling me all the tea.

This year mentally has been a lot, But with the year almost over my brain is starting to rot.

One more year, Then I’m out of here.