There are many talented writers and artists here in our very own school. It’s time for our scholars' work to be seen! Warrior Voices is Western’s first literary magazine, and it’s focused on getting student work recognized. Our literary magazine’s leadership team will work diligently to publish student work including but not limited to short stories, essays, poems, jokes, comics, and art. It is our top priority to ensure that student creative expressions are represented adequately and given a place to be celebrated by our community for generations to come.
Lourdes Garza
Can dreams be inside of a dream? I have always dreamt of finding that perfect someone, yet why is it that love is always only one sided. Out of all the places to fall in love, why did it have to be in a place where we have no other option but to part ways after I wake up… I tend to sleep quite often because I don't find motivation in being awake during the day. Most of my fond memories are those in which I am sleeping. It was a normal day like all the other ones. However, the moment I laid myself to sleep, I woke up. Yet, I was in a coffee shop. I looked around aimlessly and knew I was dreaming but had a sense of control. I walked towards the door and as soon as I held the door, a guy opened it on the other side. My heart raced as he looked at me and held the door. “You gonna go?” he asked me. I smiled awkwardly and walked out the door. “Thank you,” I replied. “Your welcome,” he responded and walked into the coffee shop.
Just like that I woke up, and he was gone. The next day I was so exhausted from the workload of my college life that I took a nap on my couch while doing homework. Once again I woke up but this time I was on a bus. As I got off that bus, he came rushing in and tripped me. He immediately apologized and placed me back on my feet. I walked off the bus and he was gone once again. I had woken up. What is this? Did he recognize me? I thought to myself. Twice in a row felt like once too many. Nighttime arrived and I was anxious to meet him again. I closed my eyes and awoke. I was sitting on a park bench and looked at my surroundings. Right at that moment, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was him once again. We spoke for a while and he asked for my name. I responded and right as I asked for his, I was gone once again. I had woken up. Night after night our eyes would meet in another world. As we got closer I took naps throughout the day just so I could hang out with him.
Then one day, we were walking around a city and he popped the question. “Would you go out with me?” My heart raced and I could feel every beat from within. I was only in a dream and had nothing to lose. Was my dream coming true? Why did it have to be in a dream? However, I woke up before I could answer. The next day I was eager to see him once again and went to sleep early. I was ready to answer his question. I woke up. Why was I still on my bed? Did I dream at all? The next day came and the next. I would dream but they were like all the others I had before I laid eyes on him. Would I see him again or was that the last time our eyes would meet? I started to lose hope. I missed him even though he was only a figment of my imagination. I was walking around campus the next day late for a class. I had gotten 2 hours of sleep thinking about him all night. “Nabi!” I looked up and saw HIM. He approached me… “Do you have an answer for me now?”
You are like the sun
Although we never have fun
The rain always comes
Melani AlvarezVictoria Olivas
Water moves freely
Like silk on a king sized bed
Smooth like soft butter
Anonymous One look in her eyes
Turned into stone before us No longer with us
A pen is a sword
To a writer who’s mourning
They show grief through art
Anonymous Into space we go Exploring everything new Surrounding us all
Anonymous
Words are everywhere
Mankind can’t live without words
Words spread others needs
Anonymous
To provide vision
To mimic the Phoebus Light
Within your own hand
Anonymous
In sixty-one keys
To speak without using words
To sing without voice
THE DESERT IS COLD
ANTARCTICA IS HOT TOO
BOTH ARE DYING, HELP
Victoria Olivas
The lady was tall
She chose to leave with Tommy
They got wings and pop
Nicholas Aguilar
Here, sitting, waiting
Dull, expecting the phone
But now. “I got it.”
It’s painful to see you again six feet under The love we once had faded, But the memories will never leave my mind
The days we spent together under the sunset and Watching each other succeed at our dreams
Having you in my life were the happiest days
Now that you aren’t here
I’m giving up
We are like butterflies after they mated We were together and then you were gone, It is now my turn to leave And find you six feet under So, let’s see where I end up
Now that you are gone Anonymous
Meeting you wasn’t that special Throughout the years getting to know you
Then I knew you might be the one
Growing up without one and you filling Up that emptiness with the love was So special to me. You giving me the Knowledge and showing me how to open up
With my emotions and with the right words
But when you’re gone I’m afraid that you Wouldn’t listen and give me your personal Opinion or showing me your love Or not getting those deep conversations. You’re my inspiration and thank you for that
Without you I wouldn’t be who I am
Carlos SotoHow much am I worth
A penny, a nickel, a dime, a quarter, a dollar
Am I worth your time
No, you did the crime
While I just watched and wasted time
You just made me your dime
You are sour like a lime
On this Earth
I know my worth
Where my heart tells me
What I really see
Am I really me
I buzz off like a bee
I will now flee
Julian VacaSitting outside waiting for the day to end
Time was slow trying to figure out how to spend my time,
Find ways to make myself go blind
Saw you walking down the street
Body froze and hid behind the chair and couldn't dare to peek
Next time I see you
I had to make a move before you moved along
Seemed so wrong but had to stop you before you were gone
Decided to ask you to a homecoming to dance to gnaw
Once the day came
Saw a shine in my eyes with joy
Couldn't believe my eyes once I got there
Seeing her dancing with another was a surprise
Thought i had the grand prize
Despised myself knowing it would happen as I sat and cried
I’m sorry that I wasn’t enough for you. She was everything I wasn’t; Smart, pretty, kind, popular She had herself figured out
I don’t even know who I am
But I do know that I liked being with you
You made me feel as if there was value in life
Up to the point where you met her
I see the way you look at her when she is with you
The way you smile, while you tell me all about how perfect she is
You tell me that she’s as beautiful as watching the sunset, And that you can stare at her all day
It made me realize that I’m not, and will never never be her She was everything you have ever dreamed of I hate to admit it, but no matter how hard I try
There’s no way I can hate her, she’s the one I wanted to be Same way I wanted to be yours
I’m sorry that I wasn’t enough for you.
In my heart you are no more
The heart that was once ours
Torn to pieces by your hands
It no longer beats
I've run from you far to long When you left it was shattered to bits
Broken fragments left behind Why have you done this
I rescued it myself and held it in my arms
For I brought it back to life
With care and tender love
For it is mine and not yours
Protected from your hands
My heart that beats alone
Shattered into millions of pieces
Left alone in the darkness
Founded by love
Yours beats with mine
What was once broken
Now fixed
My new love is as high as the moon
Together we live as one
Never alone again
Making you proud consumes me, Why do I feel like I don’t know myself?
All I do is make you happy, but where has my happiness gone?
Everyday I lose part of myself just to keep you content
When will you ever be proud of me?
I feel as my actions don’t matter My emotions are like a withering flower Losing hope and dying slowly
With every passing day next to you
Is this what love is?
They say love is what kills men
Love makes us do things we didn’t even think we could do
Love gives us motivation we didn’t know was there
Love can be used as a weapon against anyone
Love can separate people and unite people
Some say that love isn’t real
But if it’s not real how can it do all that?
Love is like a weapon, you could use it for good or for bad
Love’s also a universal thing that all humans experience
Yet not all of us like it
The way we live
Is one big story
With many highs
And many lows
Some succeed many fail
Live your life
Because you can’t live it twice Live life with the fullest
When you sleep
For a lifetime
Your body grow cold
Nobody to hold
Tears on everyone face
Holding flowers to throw
A fear everyone knows
The time you grow old
When you lie down alone
All black nobody knows
Do you remember?
The day we met in September
It felt like a dream
We cause lots of schemes
Or do you remember?
We took an adventure
We walked, talked for hours
In a field full of flowers
But now I'm sitting next to you
Your body all screwed
I'm here, holding your hand, praying While you were slowly fading
And this time in December, Is a night I'll always remember
Blisses towards eye’s
Bright lights swing with every direction you look at The beauty within the cities and the darkness that crawls
With petals that falls with each slicing through the Creating a pink mist that mesmerizes all
Catching everyone ' s glances
Keeping their stares
Only in the season of life
The day the signifies school
The petal fall
I follow a unknown path like Dorothy Got folk watching from the tornado
My progenitors crossed their own gold path
Just to give thou his own lane
Anticipated to get to the emerald city
No, turning back No, U turns
Now I proceed in thou lane
But I don't want the path
I want a diversion
That is my emerald city
That is my end
My golden path
You’ve done so much for me
You helped me at the lowest and highest
Without you who knows who I’d be
How fortunate I am to have you as my lady
I fail to see how I’m worthy of your love
I question it and feel blue
Why have you chosen me as your dove I don’t deserve you
But you still believe I’m not dull
It’s an enigma really Who knows
But I shouldn’t complain
I’m yours and that’s what matters
Nicholas AguilarIt kind of felt like it was burning
Everything I thought I loved was on fire
The flames were like monsters; they would raise up and bite chunks out of my flesh
This is the only way I know to describe it
At some point, I began wishing I could set the rest of the world on fire
I will not tell you why, as I do not fully understand But this world, which had burned me for so long, what I wanted was justice
Do not ask why I did not ask for help
I was only a child
My feet were pinned to the ground below me and I could not move, I would cry, and yell, and scream,
But I was yelling at a planet with its back turned to me
“Kids will be kids” “You’re being quite sensitive”
Perhaps you were right
But pain is pain.
It will consume you from the inside out, and call you a gourmet meal
I was only a child, Condemned to such torture
And still, you act blind
Do not take credit for putting out the fire when it was entirely my own doing
Do not act as if you did not hear the screams of suffering, When you were so clearly ignoring them
You messed up, but I do not hate you; I cannot even blame you
But don’t act like nothing happened now
As every sword is forged with heat, so was this smile
Your acting makes me sick
You were like a tortoise and a bumble bee
The tortoise, respectful, kind, and honest
The bumble bee, responsible, kind, and curious
At a glance they were 2 dimensional
I thought the bumble bee could never like me
I thought the tortoise would be nothing but a passing conversation
Both were bubbles in this space we call life
At that point, they were side quests
I did not know they would become main characters
The bumble bee, who was once 2 dimensional, is now a firework of colors
The tortoise, he is a rabbit hole of new things
I did not think a tortoise could fly until I met him
I did not know a bumble bee could walk powerfully until I met her
At some point, They became who I love most
A hot endless dry land, of pure death and emptiness.
A desert, where no creature lives but instead survives, Where one finds a cold shade
Or stays in the beaming rays
The desert as cruel as a no man ' s land
A land so undesirable that no one
Acknowledges its existence
They shine bright like the sun In our eyes they glow
A diamond could never compare Deep inside They are broken
Shattered by a hammer
At the hands of someone cruel
Who will save this soul
All alone For only time can tell
This world is so vast; so scary
Compared to it, I am insignificant
It’s 5pm now and I am only a young girl
With every passing second, the sun gets closer to completely shutting his eyes
How will I survive? In the grace of the moonlight?
She is not enough.
I am not enough.
And yet I know nothing, I do not know my own insignificance, for I am a child
I do not know this world's beauty; I do not know her story
I have not traveled outside of what I have been confined to; I want to see
For this cage cannot contain the bird for much longer
I want to be scared in the presence of, her majesty, the moonlight 5pm
A perfect time for wind
ou are not easy
You are tough at times
You are full color
You are empty of it too
You can always bring a smile
You can always bring a frown
Nothing good ever stays
Or nothing bad
But your sibling is worse
They are as cold as ice
No remorse for who they see
No remorse for who they take
But they let us sleep
Anonymous
I never knew what being different was.
I was always told to be different, but what does being different really mean?
Being different is standing up for your own beliefs regardless of what others may think It is being the first to do something instead of waiting for others to do it first
I’ve recently learned that I needed to be different mentally and spiritually I needed to move away from the current and go my own path, I need to not follow others' behaviors and instead shine bright for others to see Instead of falling into temptation, choose to walk away
Instead of choosing to fit in, be different
I encourage the person reading this to be different
They’re name starts with D
Their hair is the color of the rainbow
As they dye it whenever they feel down
They feel joy in writing music
And making art out of their imagination
To them, making a gift is better than buying one
Their injuries are what got them here
But their pain is what changed them
Do what you want not what you dread
Their mother always said to follow
Before she got sick she was the thrill
After, she was dull and took things serious
It wasn't like her to not be the light of situations
She went towards the light, no longer here to help
Victoria OlivasThe claws on the heart
Grasping it tightly Tail like a snake
It moves slightly
The cries are piercing
Piercing the heart evermore
Leaving the marks
It leaves a wound that will never heal
Although the wounds I’m fine with The fur that I pet slightly
Your body so soft yet so fragile Cries that no longer pierce the heart.
Yet I hear the melody within it
A calm and soothing hand is playing it.
Anonymous
It causes us to live
Yet it doesn’t give why
Layed here by a cuckoo
So we made our own purposes
Survival to Farming to Glory
From Glory to god to War to Death
Yet these are purposes we made Purposes we made to cope with our existence
Maybe one day a purpose will be granted
Why even try?
The world’s a cruel place
You can't deny
Judged by your race
It's not a safe place
People getting harmed
Even when they’re unarmed
Treated like a disease
This pain will never ease
All they do is lie
So why even try?
Sarahi MunozWhatifwecanfeelwhatotherpeoplefeel?
Wecanbeempatheticaboutsomeoneelse'sfeelings
Weknowwhenorwhytheycouldbesadormad
Butdowereallyknowhowsomeonefeels
Whatabouttheirthoughts?
Wecancommunicateverballyandnonverbally
Notthroughourthoughtsasfarasweknow
Whenwelosesomethingsomeonemightknowaboutit
Wecan'tlookintosomeone’sheadandfindtheirsecrets
Lookintotheirlivesandputourselvesintheirshoes
Findtheirexactlocationwithoutatrackingdevice,justour mind
Thereareonlyfewofusandnotalotknowwhatwecando Weshinelikethesunbutharmlikeafire
Theoneswhocanshinethebrightestwanttohelp
Otherswanttotaketheshinefromthem
Eventuallythosewhotakewillsuccumbtotheiractions
Everythingtheyworkedforwillbackfireintheirfaces
Theshiniestofthemalloutlivethedull
Fallingasleeptothenoiseofcrickets
Eyesshut,heardsomeoneknocking
AsIwasunlockingthedoorIdroppedtothefloor
Washurttothecore,feltsore,feltasifIwashitbythor
Wakingupinahospitalbed,hadawoundinmyhead
Gotuplikenothinganddecidedtohavealookaround
Heardaneeriesound;feltsomethingnearme
Tryingtofindawayoutfeltscaredasmyheartbeganto pound
Wasfeelingprofound,foundmywayoutsideandsawnoone exceptmyself
Asifthepopulationwassweptdidn'tknowwhattodo
Startedtoneglectmyself,feltaslonelyasacookiewithno milk
Wokeupfromthehorribledream,thingsdidn'tseemthe samethatday
Lookingatthingsadifferentway,seeingwhatlifehastobring
Thingsaren'talwayswhatitseems,howanyone'sdreams couldbegoneclean
Our lives are controlled by a simple green slip
How we live our lives depend on our weekly wages, If we have enough to live our lives fruitfully
We are defined by our earnings of money, and how we
Think of one another, how we treat our neighbors
It controls where we live and what we can eat for our lives
If a person can feed themselves or starve till the next day
Our debts can have a hold on how a someone lives their life,
Believing that you can either pay for one or the other
For many it defines the people we spend our lives with,
If they can support a person ' s rewarding lifestyle
It can demonstrate a person ' s greed in their life
Yet, it can be used to improve another’s life
To improve a life that is less successful than your own Anonymous
It was your birthday
I made sure to stay up till 12:00 am, Be the first to congratulate you, Tell you how much you mean to me But we stopped speaking, We stopped texting, We only made eye contact
Months later it was my day
People were wishing me a happy birthday I know you heard them, I know you knew it was my day
But the night settled in And my special day was almost over You never told me anything But I told myself it was fine. That I didn't care
It was past 12:00 am, A few minutes after my special day, I cried into my pillow, I cried like never before I did care, I cared too much I just wanted your wishes and no one else's.
But today is your birthday, So I will say...
I wish you a happy birthday, I love and hate you, My dear old friend.
Moving forward, I don't love you anymore
I don't feel torn when I hear your name I don't cry over it anymore
You don't matter the way you once did
Despite the fact that I don't understand how, I'm okay with it
Maybe you were what I needed at the time
I think deep down I knew that we were never meant to be, but I held on to you anyway
I'm proud of myself for moving on even though it scars me
I’m proud of myself because I know that it's for the best
So although a part of my heart will always hold you close,
It's finally making the choice
To let you go dear old friend.
Ruby Valenzuela
Today is the day, it must be, The day of monsters, of sickly fiends
Today is the day, of horrid shrieks, Today is the day of All Hallow’s Eve!
Then why is it children I hear, Laughing all about?
They must not have heard, they have not fear, Jumping all around!
They must see, the flittermice, flapping their wings, And that lantern’s crooked teeth. Why is there joy, why is there glee? Why, this, on All Hallow’s Eve?
If not this special day, then why prepare away?
If not this special day, then gone with this harrowing say!
The say that says there must be screams, The say that says, All Hallow’s Eve!
Now, what is with this bothersome noise?
One that means to exasperate my poise? A bell that bothers, a bell that stings, A bell that’s followed with, “Trick-or-Treat!”
Me, to be tricked, oh no good folk, I’ll leave my door shut until you leave my front porch! But stay, they do, while whispering silly jokes, They ought to charge my door with a pitchfork and torch!
But there is no scare, no tension, nor fright, For these four friendly fellows mean to give no fight
What is the meaning of this daunting day?
If no one is frightened, if no one is afraid?
Now it is me, who shivers tonight I hear a scratching noise, coming from outside. Surely it is nothing, on this day of pure laughs, Or maybe this is another trick, another trap!
I will not fall victim to your deceptive sound, One of a werewolf, looking for something to eat! I shifted up the stairs, I must have weighed a pound! Now, for the last hour of All Hallow’s Eve!
I waited and waited, for the sound of a childish giggle, Instead I felt, maybe dew, a trickle. A stream of fluid, down my head, “What may this be?” I said.
I swiped it away, with nothing to show! There was more, and more and more! The liquid grew, and flooded my poor home. Now there were tears, mixed with this flow.
I sat and pondered, “What could this be?” There is something in my room, a werewolf, it spotted me! As a lump of flesh, bone and meat, I take off down stairs, tripping: silly feet!
Now there was a dagger, nearing my skull, This was real, I’m sure of it, I know! I stood up straight, and fended my face, Now there was a terrible ghoul, leaving its pure red trace
Now I’m helpless, now I see, And I still hear that phrase, “Trick-Or-Treat!” This is my end, I decree, Evermore, I hear the howl, the call of All Hallow’s Eve!
Club Moderator
Mr. Brenner
Co- Editors
Lourdes Garza
Alen Arredondo Director of Design
Jimena Zapien
Design Assistants
Juan Solis
Rebeca Garza
Melani Alvarez Director of Outreach
Isabella Pacheco
Facilitators
Lizzy Hernandez
Areli Arredondo
Thank you all for the submissions! This edition wouldn't have been possible without the vulnerability of our school community and their willingness to make their voices heard. We truly appreciate everyone who has played a role in supporting our club's mission. We hope everyone who reads this enjoys it as much we enjoyed making it!
Sincerely, The Warrior Voices Team