The Muse The
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THE MUSE The Muse spring.2020 Oh living thing, Let me hear your symphony of thoughts, your heart’s melody— That dark and beautiful chorus COMMUNITY COLLEGE HOWARD you never sing aloud. Let me hear you —Aria Carlson, from “Living Things” ISSUE.18 The Muse The Literary & Arts Magazine of Howard Community College Editorial Committee Kofi Adisa Thomas Engleman Tara Hart Sylvia Lee Rick Leith William Lowe Keith Mathias Ryna May Brooke Tyson Student submissions reviewed and selected by editorial committee. Faculty and staff submissions reviewed and selected by non-contributing editors. Publication Manager & Design Editor Stephanie May Cover Art “Student Power” by Charles Levie contents prose The Worst Year of My Life 6 Josue Contreras Claire Delilah, Delilah Claire 12 Jillian H. poetry Leftovers 18 Tyler Rowe Haunting 4 Holly Mays The Fisherman 24 Finnian Sheerin Acceptance 9 Anonymous A Season on the Mountain 36 Will Paulus To Sedlec, An Exquisite Corpse 10 Collective White Lightning 42 Maya Maree The Cold Child 17 Melissa Rayo A Girl Behind Every Tree 49 Roger Chang How To Not Die In Life 22 Marcus Chewning The Bench 54 Logan Smith A Room 27 Iran Mazaherian Eat your Beets 58 James Karantonis Living Things 28 Aria Carlson My Stoney Boy 64 Jillian McCarthy “Black” girl 35 Danielle Williams The Honeymoon: A Journey Interrupted 66 Iran Mazaherian I Was Foolish 40 Helen Clark Tryst with Destiny 70 Farida Guzdar Route 50—Going Home 46 Michelle Kreiner Quick to Slow Down 74 Kelsey Noll Riverbend 47 Hannah Keepers Metamorphose 78 Rory Rawlings Halo 52 Huyen Nguyen The Man in Blue 82 Clara Moyer If I Could Draw 63 Gabriel Barrow A Monday Night in Early September 86 Maggie VanVranken Last Night’s Cigarette 77 Joey Sachs Prayer in My Watch Pocket 90 Michelle Kreiner art The Cold Embrace 11 Jillian H. On the Stoop VII; No One Ever Dies- 21 Greg McLemore We All Just Melt Into the Texture Silent Power 34 Syeda Rahman Geometric 41 Erin Kline Growth 3 48 Amaal Yazdi Vertigo 57 Marie Westhaver Early Morning Flight 69 Michelle Kreiner Liberty and Justice for All 76 Erin Kline Pause 85 Aria Carlson A Flavor Out of This World 91 Jillian H. Holly Mays Holly Mays Haunting “…for better or worse, you’re through.” —Susan Johnson Come endure the house of horrors! Thunder, it’s storming now and Spend a night inside its drafty windows. The basement is probably flooding. Legend has it no one lives to witness dawn. That tree sure is swaying a lot Do you dare try to win the overnight prize? It would be a shame if it fell on your entire family. Do not look into mirrors, You’ll hear a low growl down the hall For, you will see ghoulish figures Coming from that room, you know the one. None so terrifying as what will replace Yellow glowing eyes are peering out What should be your own familiar face Climate changing, early budding. Instead, you will see there is a zit Skeletons, vampires, spiders, rats Or worse a weak-ass eyebrow game. Secrets, politicians, aging, getting fat. Why, oh why didn’t you pack some dry Moaning, groaning, chains that clatter Shampoo? No response, runny nose, runny cake batter. Cobwebs. So many cobwebs hang What happens if my cat dies? In the corners. In the dark. And the ground is frozen and I can’t bury her? Something moves them, a breath What if my husband meets a prettier, younger- A clown, a psychopath, a monster, That thing’s probably cancer; it’s for sure, definitely cancer! A rapidly approaching due date for which you are entirely unprepared! Do not fear, you have a choice Run away free or stay and get eaten. Footsteps now, that belong to a man with a gun Nobody said it was an easy choice, Approaching your child’s classroom. Either way, you will not see the light of day It’s happening right now and you are not there to stop it. From inside this house. What kind of mother are you? Relax. It’s not real! Have a nice harmless coffee. A hot pumpkin spice latte, perhaps. But whatever you do, don’t dare let them see How basic you are. You do NOT want to be basic. 4 5 Josue Contreras Josue Contreras The Worst Year of My Life You couldn’t tell me no -then I would become the Incredible Hulk. Being the stubborn little kid that I was, I got mad when my Blue and red lights were flashing; I was conscious, of course. mother told me to sweep the floor and then mop. Eight-year-old The Ambulance was racing fast, it felt to me like we were FLYING, me wasn’t happy about the situation, so I went running towards the my mother holding onto me. I was about the age of eight when it deck at a full sprint. The giant booster seat is sitting right there but all happened fast and quick. We were rushed to the hospital, having I don’t see it. I trip over the chair. One at the bottom, middle, and to wait like animals while the towel was getting almost soaked with top… I punch and break the bottom one with my right arm. Wait I’m BLOOD! No one would attend me… invincible! No way! WHAT!!, my dumb ass said. Blood oozing from It was a hot summer day one morning, the sun beaming hard my hand splattering all over the floor, glass, and all over the ground. like a hot stove. Mom whipping up some food for breakfast. My I had a huge v-shaped cut showing off my bone. I call my mom: older brother is on his way to summer school. He was in elementary MOM, MOM come here!” in the year 2008 and so was I, in about 4th grade. We had a lot of She said, what happened? friends to talk to, play around with, and much more. I had it good; I I’m bleeding. I… I… cut myself. could say that I had it awesome. Mom gave me food, clothing, and This woman turns pale, I tell you pale white, she dashes like the more. I felt like the king of the house. Thanks to my parents as a kid FLASH to the kitchen grabbing a towel. She sits me down on the I had everything I needed. Being eight years old was probably one of sofa and tells me, Everything is going to be okay. My aunt grabs the many intensive years of my life. Because life sometimes just hits you phone and calls 9-1-1. I’m worried. The ambulance flew because as hard and you remember the worst moments ever. As a kid I always soon as the phone call was done, they appeared at the door. One of remember the worst things that happen to me and my brain traces them them said: Let’s open and check. They saw for a quick second. Then my back. Sometimes I think something might just be inside of my mind brother said, YOUR BONE!! He tells me that you could see the bone that collects bad data. My mother gets a call from my aunt and they moving with the tendons and ligaments. The other one said, no - wait talk, until they get there. Finally, we get there, and they pull me out. Hours Halo, quien es? pass. No sewing. Blood rushing. They only came inside my room to Si, es carmen ya voy a llegar a tu casa! check up on me. Why the hell aren’t they sewing me?! I’m dying over Okay esta bien hay los vemos. here. I went into a deep sleep. I had a dream; I find myself in the I ask my mother who is it? and she tells me it’s your aunt that same exact location. called. How did I know that so quick? I asked myself. I might be a Hello, is anyone here… SIDEKICK or something! But she said she’s coming over because she You’re going to Dieee!! didn’t work. I soon ask my mom if we are going to go somewhere Woaaahh excuse me whooooo is in heerrreeee!!! because earlier that day, she had told me that I was going to go with You’re going to Dieeee!!! her to the store. Hey… don’t play with me that way... Mami, vamos a ir a la tienda hoy? I said. Then the silence grew stronger. No, hoy no porque no hay tiempo hoy es tarde y luego va a venir No one is in the building not even my mother, and I didn’t know tu hermano. what to do because only the lights of my room were on, not even the Okay, ESTA BIEN!! But I knew inside me that I was furious person who slept on the other side of the room was in there. because it was a promise. I was getting worried. Hello…. Nothing! Hello… Nothing! Then someone said, 6 7 Josue Contreras Anonymous Why are you here? Acceptance I need them to sew my arm I’m bleeding out. NO look again! But I couldn’t see this person. So, I look……. NOOOOOOOOOOOO! My-y-y-y H-a-a-and! A devil stands over me and says I was so worried I didn’t know where to go or what to do. But I said to myself I have to calm down, calm down; the only thing I can You can never purge the evil from your soul do is pray to God, ask him for help because I couldn’t do it.