The Quill 2024-2025
Staff
Teacher Advisor: Carolyn Rousseau
Student Staff:
Lili Allard, Drew Capello, Declan Carroll, Simon McFarland, Nora Strahs
Thank you to all who contributed. This would not be possible without you!!
Cover Art: Kaitlyn Deptula
Drawn by: Maya Prabakaran
Drawn by: Tarini Kokkula
Falling Apart
We share a house, a name, a yard
A yard where the grass never grew just right
His bags aren’t packed yet
The house feels emptier
I look around his room, still his, but not for much longer
His shoes by the door, waiting to leave I stay quiet
Pretending that I don’t hear him talk about where he got accepted
Pretending that I don’t see the countdown on his phone screen
At school, I don’t fit in quite right
Girls talk about boys
About crushes that I can’t relate to or understand
They surround me, always close, but they always feel miles away
Maybe it’s not him leaving for college that hurts the most
Maybe it’s me staying.
And never knowing where I fit and where I don’t
Anonymously Submitted
Drawn by: Bo O’Connor
The Darkness
My breath has run away from me. I was crying, tears running down my face as the man approached me. He was right behind me. I tried and continued to run until my legs couldn’t move any longer. I stopped in the middle of nowhere. I stood there, waiting for the man to finally grab me and bring me into the darkness. Yet it never came. I stood there, thinking about what would happen if I even moved. “Would he grab me? Would he try to harm me? What’s happening?” Questions like this never stop filling my mind. I kept on standing until I heard a breeze behind me. I turned around and saw nothing. The roads were silent. The lights were turned off and I was alone. I turned back to see the man staring at me. He grabbed me and I have never been seen again. (P.S. nothing bad actually happened, it was just kidnapping).
Written by Sarah Soares
Drawn by: Marianna Tsianatelis
Where Have My Thoughts Gone
Where have my thoughts gone?
My mind wanders away
Onto an imaginary plane
Far from existence
Only real if I think of it. What a crazy concept. It’s hard to think about
Thinking about thinking. I try to reach out, And catch my fleeting thoughts, But I am unsuccessful. They fly away to fast, Too uncontrollable to control. Like lightning, They’re gone before I really see them, Like music, They’re beautiful, but go on, and end…
And so will this poem, Once I’ve finished writing it.
Oh, where have my thoughts gone?
Written by Vivian Ramsey
Drawn by: Emily Casella
Letters
Why did letters always bother me?
Why does that big letter at the top of my paper in red pen always concern me?
How was it that a letter could change my mood?
Change my day.
No matter which letter A, B, C, D or everything else in between
They all had impact They all meant nothing. Everyone worried about that letter.
No matter if it was on my report card or my most recent quiz
Everyone was worried. Myself, parents, friends, siblings, teachers
Everyone. Everyone cared for it Everyone wanted to make it grow Everyone nurtured it
Everyone wanted to make it the best it could be
But why?
I would only seem to notice the small amount of red x’s on my paper
They would dance in my mind, teasing me I would only stare at them
Not the check marks, not the smiley faces
Just them They mattered the most They affected that letter at the top
So, why did letters always bother me?
Written by Anvita Guda
Drawn by: Lili Allard
Drawn by: Kiera Manning
Painted by: Hannah Mathew “Sunny Vibes”
A Winter Wonderland
Isn’t it beautiful? The snow covers the ground like a soft embrace in a blanket. Bare the trees are, swaying gently in the winter wonderland wind. Can this bizzare dream fill the empty holes in my heart? Light as the snow is, yet, gives me goose bumps under my own blanket. The crisp snowy air giving the ground a heartwarming hug, the kind of hug I hold onto from a loved one.
Pressure’s Power
Pressure is powerful, makes you strong yet weak, you collapse it gives. you don't give up, you say you haven't, you say you won't, but you already did. The fall comes in whispers but the pain was loud, breaking its way through. You're falling now, like a tree, deep in the forest, the falling and breaking rapidly wont stop, until it does. The tree beside you in the forest catches you, sharing the weight, only if they are there. The tree may exist or it may be you that must anchor yourself in the storm.
Written by Mia Kuscher
The Shape of Days
Life is like a circle, days going round and round about, but some things are added to this circle that have never been before. Maybe daring adventures of only the most courageous people, maybe thrilling or heartbreaking experiences that leave you in a haze, maybe a twisting choice, maybe the world is at the palm of your hand. This is your life, you choose how this circle is drawn.
An Empty Void
I tumble into this empty void, I hit the hard ground, almost falling through it. What have I done now? Deeper and deeper into the void is the only way I go, the existence of humanity miles away, no one and no thing can save me now. I just sit down and let myself cave in. I'm by myself, no one can save me but myself, and I'm stuck. The void practically swallows me whole as the dust starts to escape from its running around, as pebbles fall they hit the ground and die out from their attempts to escape and I too, settled in the dust.
Written by Mia Kuscher
Drawn by: Holly Guilotti
Drawn by: Anasophia Souza
Anonymously Submitted
Purpose
I have no purpose
Don’t whisper deceptive words into my ear saying
My life has meaning
I’m stuck sinking
It would be untruthful to say that I am not empty inside
Another day is too hard
You can’t convince me
To keep pushing forward
I will continue
Feeling immense pain
No more will I keep on
Building myself up
I will carry on
Feeling like life is pointless
I won’t continue
To love myself
Unloved/Loved
Accept that you are alone
It is a lie to
Believe you are worthy of affection
You should always
Feel bad about yourself
You don’t deserve to
Feel true happiness
When you open up your eyes you will start to
Come to the realization that Nobody loves you
It’s not true that
Everyone deserves love
Don’t ever doubt that
You are nothing
Stop thinking
You’ll be great
Anonymously Submitted
Read top to bottom and then bottom to top
Written by Sophia Molloy
Way Back Then
A golden drop that falls on your face, It shines in your eyes like hundreds of sun–rays, So warm, contrasting to the hands below, The black polypropylene, it being oh–so cold to touch, It was a feeling so tactile, scratchy definitely, like hems of a seatbelt,
With trembling fingers, the trees dangle on the sides, Their eyes, a hard stone—your own eyes blinking like car lights. There wasn’t much to do, just jump around in your little game, During it you smile, because there seemed no reason to help it bide;
You held whole world, round in your hands, The weightlessness of light, With the hours you spent outside, jumping up, up, up, jumping up to exclaim,
“It meant so much, to be outside,”
With all the pearly streaks on your face,
Like the golden drop of the sky Earth refused to let escape its blaze,
Your face so warm, yet the air so cold, Like a wilted bridal wreath, This was just what Autumn was told—what it’s told is now nonsuch,
As although the stars play their games, in the distance holds a sash,
Which keeps you bound Way Forward, So that you can look back at the past, The past, the past, the past that is all the way back.
Written by Ryan Lin
