Cantos 2020 1 “The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.” Pablo Picasso Cover Art by Sophia Chung The Soul Darren Jacobs Quarrelsome, the lone, angry wave unleashing its frustration on the jagged rocks Yet calm, the wind against an eagle’s wings as it soars the bright blue sky Cold, the heartbroken widow in her first winter alone Yet warm, the fiery red of a tree in the dawn of Autumn Lively, the infant not yet affected by the trials of life Yet dead, the crippled stem of a flower in the deepest winter Controlling, the mother bear teaching her cub how to survive Yet controllable, a tame horse running on the plains 3 Shoes Off A Short Film by Joshua Cisneros 4 Mike Look, the best way to stop missing something is to forget that you don’t have it. Instead of thinking about how you can’t take your shoes of f, forget that you can’t take your shoes off. It’ll help you a lot. Just don’t think about it, I don’t and it’s gotten me this far. Julia I don’t think I can do that. Mike Well, if you don’t like it here, you can always just leave. Julia I’m considering it. Mike Just know that if you leave… THEY won’t let you back into this hotel. Julia But what’s the point? Mike Again, don’t think about it. It’ll drive you crazy if you do. (Mike walks back into his apartment room. Julia turns around and sees Randy standing on the opposite end of the hallway.) Randy They’re not happy with the way you’ve been behaving so far. 5 Church of Bones By Brianna Miller 6 Mexico Leslee Moon The winds of change are here. I can feel them, stirring through the trees. Nothing lasts forever, except God, maybe the seas. If they don’t dry up from the abuse and pollution, degradation, and confusion. Water diverted to places it was never meant to flow. Rivers no longer reaching their intended destination. I’m speaking of you, sweet Mexico. Where I’m too afraid to travel. Warnings of kidnappings and false incarceration. Prevent any well-meaning vacation. There’s a town I’d love to visit. I’ve heard it’s full of artists. Inland, not a place of tourists. Where the culture is rich and by all means inclusive. Yet I don’t go, too many routes turned abusive. Mexico has a bad reputation. Drug lords seeming to control the devastation. How did that happen? Perhaps a deeper inquiry is required. I wonder if the dried up Colorado River, a vital element for life to flourish, has anything to do with their unpredictable economy, unstable families, and diminished personalities. Mexico, you are not forgotten. I weep for your children. I pray that they won’t grow up in a world feeling begotten. A wall won’t solve the problem. Unless the wall is protecting them from the problem. America claims to be the land of the free, but that’s just plain mockery. Using God’s name in vain, He doesn’t divide his people. All are welcome in His kingdom. Those making the threats have lost sight of where they came from. We are all guests on this planet. As I mentioned before, nothing lasts forever. Take inventory of your life, how much of it is devoted to God’s pleasure? What can you do to heal the world? It’s as simple as smiling at your neighbor. They are your imagination manifestation. If you don’t like what you see, take your faith into question. Those with a pure heart, one anchored in God’s profession, find not fault in one another, they are simply a reflection. Godspeed is nature’s inclination. His timing is perfection. Asking only your total dedication. You have been sold a lie with every iPhone edition. It can’t replace life, it is a phone-y misrepresentation. 7 Mothers Kimberly Pitts Cultures may have deemed this a man’s world, but the Lord has declared you to be highly esteemed or favored one You can be seen as a wonder woman who I know can often feel like a worn-out woman You do many things that only the Lord sees In every meal prepared, mile driven, tear brushed away, prayer prayed, battle fought on my behalf, you are always more than what you do Just as me, you are loved by the one and greater parent: our Savior and creator. Just as me, you are a sinner and make mistakes. Just as me, your unborn and present life was worth the ultimate sacrifice. Just as me, every payment of your past present and future sins have been paid in full. Just as me, you have been redeemed and fully known - loved - seen by our Lord Above. In the beginning, the Lord looked down at what He had made and frowned because it was not yet complete without you You, Mom, repeat many words. Whether with discipline, a kind hug, or many other gracious ways that abound... you don’t let a day or night pass without the sounds of “I love you” or “I love you more” So, today, as well as any day, whether in word or deed, is one worth repeating and reminding you too of the phrase “I love you” 8 Battered Hannah Davis I’ve grown tired of mistaking drunken slurs for sober cursive that talks of softness like wanting me like loving me. I can’t decide between the Times New Roman or Sans Serif lines that they scribble with their tongues with their teeth. But it feels better to be left with bruises than to be a stranger to touch. So leave bloody constellations behind before you go, so at least I’ll know that you were here. I’m so fucking sick of people leaving me and having nothing to show for it. 9 Weight Chase Fowler we drove down the road two vile things coursing through the veins of the city like poison rotting a virgin heart from the inside out your hands gripped the wheel- my leg- the wheel- my thigh- and I noticed your knuckles white and damaged with dried blood; the wounds of blind anger meeting drywall wounds from a pain easier to deal with than the burn of a kiss ‘cause you’d rather have a fractured hand than the weight of scarlet letters spelling fag carved into your ivory flesh dripping the real you onto that privileged foundation you built yourself upon i ask myself what weighs more: the weight of your hand on my thigh or the weight of society’s expectations for you and how next time you take a swing in anger it might be my blood on your hands. 10 I Got Here... Yanira Cristobal I got here thanks to them. The ones who traveled miles thinking there was never an end. Through multiple deserts without food or water to get to where they are now. Leaving behind parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles. Leaving behind everything they value for a better future. Two young adults risking their lives in search of opportunities and freedom. He, young and full of energy. She, young with a beautiful creature inside her belly. Hand in hand, walking through tough days. Night after night walking through cold winds. With hopes for a better future and the family they wished to have. He, working two jobs for his wife and for his first baby soon to come. She, working with her baby bump anxiously awaiting the day. Years passed by and they were progressing. Three kids enjoying their childhood filled with love and laughter. In the blink of an eye their children were now at the same age, mom and dad had been when they arrived. First child done with college, now working his dream job. Second child attending college striving to achieve her goals. Third child growing up following her siblings’ footsteps. All three working hard to make the tears and sweat worthwhile. I got here thanks to them. 11 Solution v. Pollution Sophia Chung 12 It was good Alivia Barrier From James 2:10 “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” We laid down our burdens next to each other. Filled altars with pains and sorrows and headaches row by row surmounting sins rising above our heads. Holier than thou—than us. Than our agony afflicted by no one—other than ourselves. We think of our torment and torture, of our own discomforted heads throbbing with the ideas that this world could get better. If only we had cared; our world burning, throbbing, destroyed at every turn. Too late to rebel against our lifestyle, we comfort ourselves by asking for forgiveness, a grace which, we are taught, can be sought over and over again and again. Breathing World We lie. Jarod Large To ourselves. To our youth. Ever wondered how trees work, To our God. stand tall, silent, givers of life. Guardians of the world His creation was good. sucking out the bad to expel the good. But, we are “guilty of all.” Never ask for anything in return, they exist to keep the world breathing. Millions of years, infinite breaths, they were always there. They burn, die, they resurrect their own circle of life, one day it might all end, without our protection. Continuously mistreated, they suffer, cry, scream.