N0. 34 CRUX

The Teller Magazine Issue No. 34

May 2025

Crux

n. the decisive or most important point at issue.

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Index of Themes, selected poem Poems about night and related poems. Paintings about night, sleep, death, and the stars.

I know one poem from school under the stars, but belong to no school of poetry.

I forgot it by heart. I remember only it was set in the world and its theme parted.

Poems about stars and how they are erased by street lights, streets in a poem about force in the schools within it. We learned all about night in college, how it applies, night college under the stars where we made love a subject. I completed my study of form

I was sat there and we spoke on the green, likening something to prison, something to film.

Poems about dreams like moths about streetlights until the clichés glow, soft glow of the screen comes off on our hands, blue prints on the windows.

How pretentious to be alive now,

let alone again like poetry and poems indexed by cadence is falling about us while parting. It was important to part yesterday in a serial work about lights so that distance could enter the voice and address you tonight.

Poems about you, prose poems.

and forgot it.

Tonight, poems about summer and the stars are sorted by era over me.

Also poems about grief and dance. I thought I'd come to you with these themes like my senses.

Do you remember me from the world?

Ben Lerner Lerner, an English professor at Brooklyn College, was a keynote speaker at SUNY New Paltz’s English Graduate Symposium. He shared this poem with us, stating “I think there’s always this moment with innovative writing, where it tries to be the new thing... When it returns with a difference across this interval of the page, it gives off a little spark, and that spark is the idea that the reconfiguration of social materials can produce a different world.”

Lerner, Ben, "Index of Themes" from The Lights. 2023, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Griffin Poetry Prize 2024 Finalist.

Used with permission from The Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry.

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THIS ISSUE

01........................................SOCIAL MEDIA 02...................................SELECTED POEM 04...................LETTER FROM EDITOR 05..............................SENIOR GOODBYES 10...............................MEET THE EBOARD 11............FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR 12.....................HOROSCOPES & MISC. 15..........................FASHION & BEAUTY 17............................ART & LITERATURE

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letter from the editor Well, my time has finally come to say goodbye.

It felt like just yesterday I was writing my first letter as Editor-in-Chief, reflecting on the moments that solidified my place here. From being a small copy editor on the New Paltz Oracle and progressing to Sports Page Editor, to becoming the on-site Athletics correspondent as WFNP The Edge’s Sports Director, and, last but certainly not least, President of The Teller Magazine, I have grounded myself in the Center for Student Media, and I hope I brought those positions justice. I wanted to challenge myself even further, build more things under my roster -- not just for a good resume, but because I loved to do it. I still love it. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve been a creative mind since the moment I was born, and to lead and provide a place where the New Paltz student body can be liberated in that agenda means the world to me.

This has come a long way in the making, as The Teller has finally found a stable foundation to rely on. Through the hard work of my EIC ancestors, especially Jennifer Poroye and Abigail Hedler, the magazine has survived through many hardships to be a voice among the creatives on campus. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to lead The Teller and everything that has led me up to this moment. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this magazine, our little corner on campus, over my years here as Chief. I want to thank Val Turco for giving me this opportunity, one I have always dreamed of. Your hard work and dedication to the Center for Student Media doesn’t go unnoticed.

I want to thank my E-Board, for inspiring me to be a better leader every day, your kind words of encouragement and hilarious words of wisdom are much appreciated.

Sophia, my second in command. No words can express the utmost gratitude I have for your email skills and tenacity.

Please text me over the summer and through the years, I will miss seeing you every day, my friend.

Dylan, Sid, & Cassander, my fellow grads, thank you for accepting me as your Prez. Please let’s stay in touch and start a book club, I know you all have brilliant futures ahead (and excellent taste).

Lauren, my wonderful graphic designer, I hope you stay with us for eternity. This issue’s covers are beautiful (as always) and I’m excited to see your talent grow.

Peyton and Kiely, thank you for joining us this semester, I always love your work, please never stop creating.

Cassidy and Nicole, please look after my baby with care.

To my family, friends, and the many Teller enthusiasts out there, thank you again. Every like, comment, share and read of our magazine is a special one.

Signing off,

Fynn Haughney president + eic

may 2025

Senior Goodbyes

Issue 34

from The Teller

CRUX

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Take Care,

FROM E-BOARD MEMBER

The Teller Magazine and lovely Executive Board have been such a large part of my life over the last few years, first under former E.I.C Abby Hedler, my darling friend, and now having the immense privilege and burden of being Managing Editor alongside Fynn. For someone who doesn't consider herself very creative or a writer in the least, it's been such a pleasure to learn about the writing and editing processes and to have a hand in publishing dozens of truly astounding works.

I'm forever grateful to this little magazine; the E-Board and contributors for putting up with my many, many, many messages; and Fynn for letting me be in charge of all things admin. I love to send emails!

The Teller and I have been through a lot— E-Board changes, my first ever notes app poem being cleaned up and published, numerous late nights (and one gorgeous afternoon sitting in my backyard) copy and page-editing each issue to perfection— and I wouldn't have wanted to change that for the world.

I'm so happy to have had this experience that is so far out of my comfort zone and not related to any future plans.

Thank you again to this year's E-Board who I will miss so desperately and to all our dedicated contributors who make this magazine worthwhile!

XOXO,

Sophia Lattof

MANAGING EDITOR

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Goodbye,

FROM E-BOARD MEMBER

Four years of undergrad basically completed. Wow. Okay. It’s been a series of glamorously cherished peaks and psychologically tormented lows at SUNY New Paltz. Yet, as corny as it sounds, I really would have not imagined myself getting to this point when I first enrolled into college, soon with a bachelor’s in one hand and the looming uncertainty of what comes next in the other.

As with many people, when I tore my way through academics, extracurriculars and hobbies are what kept me sane in the wakes of exams, papers and projects from different classes piling on top of me like a near-to-death-starving mob of rabid dogs. Sometimes, I would read Jhumpa Lahiri or classics or essays. Other times, it would be time spent drawing whimsical little cats or shredding through unwanted magazines to make a fun collage.

Then there’s the catharsis of writing. I remember submitting a draft of a personal essay for my freshman composition class and my professor would ultimately suggest publishing it to campus literary magazines, namely The Teller. Admittedly, I never decided to do it. But soon enough, I found myself getting involved anyways, starting in sophomore year through my first essay about my (then) intense passion for learning French in relation to a book I had read about an Asian American author who enthralled herself in the wondrous journey of learning Italian.

I would ultimately end up on the E-Board as the Head Page Editor, as well. No regrets. I’m thankful to have been given the opportunity to develop each new issue into a beautiful display of this campus’ talent while being next to the loveliest people who have been nothing but understanding and kind. Thank you to my fellow E-Board members who made me feel welcomed as we worked together at each meeting, to every contributor who has submitted their work and to every reader who showed up to support The Teller.

Cheers,

Cassander Liu

Co-Head Page Editor 07

Farewell,

FROM E-BOARD MEMBER

The Teller was the first media organization I joined at New Paltz, and it is now the last I will say goodbye to. This magazine has brought me so many new friendships, personal growth and a community to bring my scarilyaccurate horoscopes to. I like to think of The Teller as our campus’ canvas, where all of our university’s talented writers, artists and creatives can freely show their work to the world, and I’m thankful I could be on the Eexecutive Bboard that helped ensure we continued to do just that. My section may not have seen as many submissions as Art and Lit or Adventure, but I ran a tight ship over here at Horoscopes & Miscellaneous, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Fynn, thank you for taking me in and trusting me with the helm of my section. I hope I did it justice. Inside and out our copyediting sessions, you have been nothing but kind, hilarious and an amazing friend to me. I’ll see you this summer.

To forever divining the future and supporting the free press,

Dylan Murphy

HOROSCOPE & MISCELLANEOUS SECTION EDITOR 08

Peace & Love, FROM E-BOARD MEMBER I have six years of service to literary magazines under my belt, and this is the first time I’m writing something of my own. From freshman year of high school to senior year of college, I’ve been drawn to the creative minds of my peers. Their real experiences, ideas, rhymes, images, thoughts and feelings. The Teller gave me another chance to appreciate that one poem you’re proud of that you wrote on the worst night ever. The short story you wrote for class that actually turnedout kind of great. The playlist you carefully added each song to with purpose. The picture that catches that feeling so perfectly. I am endlessly impressed by the talent housed in SUNY New Paltz.

First, shout out to my maker, The Writer’s Guild at Hamburg High School. Second, goodbye to The Teller, and thank you for giving me the chance to connect with this part of myself again. I hope I always find my way back to the familiar warmth of literary magazines. To everyone reading, write more vicious, raw, bleeding, honest, burning poetry.

Sidney Anderson

ADVENTURE & CULTURE SECTION EDITOR 09

Sophia Lattof Managing Editor

Sidney Anderson Adventure & Culture Section Editor

Kiely Caulfield Head Copy Editor

Nicole Pottgen Fashion & Beauty Section Editor

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Cassander Liu Co-Head Page Editor

Cassidy Brock Arts & Literature Section Editor

Peyton Waszkiewicz Co-Head Page Editor

Dylan Murphy Horoscope & Misc.

Section Editor

Lauren Bialt Head of Design

meet the eboard

Fynn Haughney Editor-in-Chief

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C O N T R I B U T I O N

FEATURE Agya Owusu-Fordjour Junior Sociology major, Black Studies and Deaf Studies minors

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O O T S H R SA E M Dylan Murphy Y E M U ARIES: SWEAT. WORK. FLEXIBILITY. TIME MANAGEMENT. YOU’RE IN FOR A GOOD SEASON IF YOU STICK TO WHAT YOU KNOW IS IMPORTANT. DON’T LET DISTRACTIONS GET TO YOU. TAURUS: GUT FEELINGS. TRUST. SPONTANEITY. WILLINGNESS. DON’T HAVE A CLOSED MIND. SUMMER IS MEANT TO BE A LITTLE CRAZY. GEMINI: UNCERTAINTY. DECISION-MAKING. THINKING. PATHS. WE ALL GET TO A POINT WHERE WE HAVE TO TAKE THINGS INTO OUR OWN HANDS. DON’T BE SCARED—YOU’VE PREPARED FOR THIS. CANCER: LIVING. BALANCE. BUSINESS. OUTSIDE. YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF SUMMER. IT WON’T BE ANY DIFFERENT THIS TIME AROUND. LEO: THRIVING. DANCING. LAVISH. EXTRA. SUMMER IS ALL ABOUT LIVING IT UP, BUT TRY NOT TO DO TOO MUCH. IT’S EASY TO GET CAUGHT UP IN THE MADNESS.

VIRGO: REMINISCENCE. WONDERING. HEALING. SUN. SUMMER IS ON GOOD TIMING. YOU NEED THIS SEASON TO RESET AND LET YOURSELF PROCESS. LIBRA: JUBILANCE. COMPLETION. MELT. RELAX. YOU’VE DONE ENOUGH HARD WORK TO LAST YOU A LIFETIME. SOAK UP THE SUN. SCORPIO: RETURN. AMBITION. MINDSET. FACING IT. YOU TEND TO GO INTO SUMMER WITH A GOAL, A THING ON YOUR MIND. GET TO IT. SAGITTARIUS: INDIFFERENCE. WHATEVER. HERMIT. LONESOME. IT’S EASY TO ISOLATE YOURSELF DURING THE SUMMER. TRY PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE. CAPRICORN: ICE. DRINKS. SWIMMING. BIKING. EVERY SEASON IS A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO TRY SOMETHING NEW. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WORLD. AQUARIUS: DRAMA. TENSION. HEAT. MATURITY. IT MAY BE TIME TO REEVALUATE YOUR SUMMER CREW. SOME OF YOUR FRIENDS ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE WRONG THINGS. PISCES: TRIPS. EXPLORATION. MOVEMENT. PROGRESSION. YOU’LL BE OUT AND ABOUT THIS SUMMER. THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT. 14

end of the year playlist fynn haughney

It felt like only yesterday I started having my own radio show with WFNP The Edge, but in reality, it’s been two years. And it all came to a close, April 29, with my 42nd episode. Thankfully, I didn’t cry on live air, but I will at graduation. I can feel it building in my sinuses (unless that is my allergies). Here’s that playlist:

Fashion & Beauty

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Springtime Fashion Spotlight Cassander Liu

With the newly ripened grass, soft blazes of sunlight and visions of vernal renaissance comes opportunities for us to shed our thick puffer coats and embrace textile metamorphosis through lighter, more expressive fashion choices appropriate for the warmer weather. For Crux, I invited some on-campus fashionistas to showcase one of their best looks for the season.

Mollie

Mollie draws inspiration from Japanese fashion which embodies an airy feeling of breeziness. She gets her clothes from brands like Uniqlo and Muji.

Emilie

For Emilie, fashion is about visual and mental inspiration. There’s a mental boost that comes with looking well-put together while feeling comfortable.

She doesn’t prescribe herself to a particular style, but leans towards femme and neutral color palettes.

Virtuous

Virtuous gets her inspiration from Pinterest and other Black creators or creators of color. She likes to keep it simple, but will dress up sometimes, if the mood calls for it. Fashion essentials are all about accessories and matching.

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Smiley, Agya Owusu-Fordjour

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Tortoiseshell Cassidy Brock Growing up together with my little shadow.

Colors changing with the seasons.

In summers, you’re gray dilute.

In winters, you’re beige mute.

Still my sweet darling girl.

But you’re no different than the day we met.

Thirteen years later, you still jump into my bed rest your little head right behind my knee, feel your body curl and sing yourself to sleep.

Italy Leeza Pantano

It’s hot. The kind of hot that pushes you into the ground aggressively and forces fatigue. Dry and bright, reflecting the endless whites and subtle browns of the bleached towns. It’s vast and so grand at first, but eventually you find its edges and borders— veins that creep deeper and further. The landscape is familiar and foreign all at once, implying hope and home where none really is.

But you’ll find one here, it says. I am the old world, the eternal home—your eternal home. The birthplace of your kind and your mind, your hordes. The crux and the cradle for all that is you. You will feel your place here and know with certainty it is nothing, just a passing thought, barely formed before once again scattered. You will be dried and pressed, your tragedies drank and delighted in. But before you bake under Helios’s sun, enjoy the hellish heaven that is your origin, its cruelty and crassness, its seductive fertile hills. They will war with you; you will love it. Venus and Ares and Aphrodite and Mars; here their beginnings live on. They permeate through the history that has been built atop their shoulders, churning slowly beneath layers of ceilings and skin, maintaining their influence, their ultimate universality—longing and violence, ever entwined hands reaching and grasping for more. Witness, and know that this ruin is your destiny, as it was of all that came before.

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Rotten Hound

Evan Schouten

All of Me

Evan Schouten 24

Eureka!, Agya Owusu-Fordjour

On the brink of nothing, you are sailing manically or withering in reality with a piece of your fiction telling you it was once good to know nothing at all about the ambiguity of the nature with which you glide on the tips of grass blades as they turn from yellow to green or about the constant ringing of an idea that has not yet formed

the idea of the contemporaries bouncing around the pages your attempt to evolve extremities, maintain the subjective correlative, pierce the page you once were bound to the one with the same set of eyes you drew that look into you with fear and hope.

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JFT Stairs at 6:00 PM

Sophia Lattof

APRIL MAY FALL Cassidy Brock

Tattered hand-me-downs ridden with years of love— or still new price tags. That one little black dress with sequins around the neck, she gave it to me like I was her own. Old nail polish— not the crusty kind that won’t budge— tacky with chipped tips and frayed brushes. She would braid our hair bound together, as we once were.

Autumn wedding, cold October you wore red and I’m glad you did.

It always looked better on your mousy brown hair, sun-kissed skin.

Now I get footnotes in the story of your life. Saw your sister got married and my eyes welled up. I was there when they first broke up but the knot is now tied and you’re her maid of honor, of course.

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Your parents never looked prouder than they did in those photographs but I remember the night your father was tempted to kill the adulterer, then my tears held some weight— you were my twin and she was like an older sister I never had.

Creative Literary Magazine