Cleveland State Community College ENGLISH DEPARTMENT Editor: Julie Fulbright Front cover photography by: Marchelle Wear Graphic Design and Production: Tony Bartolo and Donna Benton Printer: Dockins Graphics, Cleveland, Tenn. Copyright: 2011 Cleveland State Community College clevelandstatecc.edu All Rights Reserved Cleveland State Community College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Ga. 30033-4097, telephone number (404) 679-4501. Cleveland State Community College is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Employment Opportunity (AA/EEO) institution committed to the education of a non-racially identifiable staff and student body. 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CSCC HS/11129/04112011 Table of Contents Aaron Quinn Blackness of Emotions ................................. 4 Syllable Away ............................................... 5 Unpaved Path ............................................... 6 The Well House ............................................ 7-11 Natalie Hill Paul ............................................................... 12 Heart-to-Heart ............................................... 13 C. Howard I Wish Time Would Fly ................................. 14 Lita Connolly Broken Light ................................................. 15 Burning Life .................................................. 16 Burning My Past ........................................... 17 Guarding My Sanity ..................................... 18 Journey to an End ......................................... 19 Unknown ....................................................... 20 Tashia Harvey Untitled ......................................................... 21 Andrea Morris My Mommy Dearest ..................................... 22 Jonathan Hall What Kind of Chocolate? ............................. 23 A Day in February at Cleveland State .......... 24 My Love ........................................................ 25 Ode to My Car .............................................. 26 Ol’ Worn Guitar ............................................ 27 Soccer Champions ........................................ 28 The Good Student ......................................... 29 The Lost Troopers ......................................... 30 Winter ........................................................... 31 Oscar Pascual The Problem with Problems ......................... 32 Stranger ......................................................... 33 Nail Tacks on My Bed .................................. 34 Unknown ....................................................... 35 C. Michael Downes Song .............................................................. 36 Old Acquaintances ........................................ 37 Michael Honaker Cephei ........................................................... 38 Asa Flowers I Am Me ........................................................ 39 Frankie Conar Innocence Lost .............................................. 40 The Old Ones Say ......................................... 41 The Student’s Psalm ..................................... 42 Seasons of Time ............................................ 43 Lauren Link Always Remember ........................................ 44 Eszter Kovacs Song of the Heart .......................................... 45 Zack Scoggins Star Gazer ..................................................... 46 Tonya Arsenault The Barefoot Princess ................................... 47 The Father I Failed to See ............................. 48 THE SNAKE ................................................ 49 The Yellow Raincoat ..................................... 50 Toy ................................................................ 51 My American Hero ....................................... 52 Learn from Your Children ............................. 53 Nighttime Confessions .................................. 54 Stop and Smell the Roses: An Elegy for Rosemary ............................. 55 Sweet Release ............................................... 56 Teardrop Rain ............................................... 57 Tommy Stamey Sometimes I Cry ........................................... 58 Too Many Yesterdays and Not Enough Tomorrows ............................. 59-60 This Thing ..................................................... 61 The Butterfly Effect ...................................... 62 Crush ............................................................. 63 Guilt Ridden .................................................. 6 Just One Lie .................................................. 65 I Can’t Be Your Hero .................................... 66-67 Tyler Wickman Sonnet ........................................................... 68 Sharon DePierro Gypsy Skirts .................................................. 69 Silent Bond ................................................... 70 Lone Stalk ..................................................... 71 Chris Bennett Sleep ............................................................. 72 Hour Glass .................................................... 73 Untitled ......................................................... 74 Sierra White Suicide Spotter .............................................. 75 James Long Eagle Kilgore Autistic Student at Cleveland State .............. 76 Jeff Young Blessed Debt ................................................. 77 Beach at Dusk ............................................... 78 Anthony Bowers In Memory of a Friend .................................. 79 Douglas Parris The Purpose of Silence ................................. 80 Tiffany Tate Ocean ............................................................ 81 C. Michael Downes Soon .............................................................. 82-84 Eszter Kovacs Aaron Quinn Anonymous Another Kind of Mother ................................ 85 Photographs and Drawings: Tonya Arsenault, Allen Bouchard, Mandy Cantrelle, Angela Chism, Kylie Clark, Lita Connolly, Misti Davis, C. Michael Downes, Annika Endo, James Garrett, Katelyn Harrod, Granger Hughes, Barrett Kibble, Tatyana Krish- chuk, Aimee Morris, Zack Scoggins, Francehska Scruggs, Ross Spurgeon, James Tivis, and Marchelle Wear. Blackness of Emotions Aaron Quinn Strangled by loss of reason Driven by sight given Peeks of humanity’s lies Drives them to think Held on by knots of fear Losing breath by their jeers Captivated by depravity Blackness of emotions wash Away the crimson of religion Negating the white of purity Tainting the blue of the sky Ignorance prances along mouths Looks burn hatred into skin It is time to hang another One man of a different color For this act we sacrifice We sacrifice our humanity All for gaining security From the fear of differences Photo submitted by Angela Chism 4 Syllable Away Aaron Quinn Bleed into the perceptive circle Optically challenge the winter of youth Guiding me into the spring of adulthood Teach me Shakespearean truths Bring A Winter’s Tale’s hope Into “The Winter of My Discontent” Allow the warmth of earth’s core permeate Blazing through the coldness of my ignorance Grayness of the unknown hides shades of knowledge An array of colors exist on your canvas Merge them into the void of my immaturity Silence the doubts of my lack of wisdom Blow winds of wisdom out of my tongue Lighting a fire of understanding that floats Like a cloud full of life giving rain Droplets of surety will bring forth flowers That will decorate the mental life I live Then, nature, I will see all through your stature I will know nothing while piercing every thought Only to realize I have never thought a thought Yet, all possibilities are just a syllable away Photo submitted by Tatyana Krishchuk 5 Unpaved Path Aaron Quinn My vision impaired as though pierced by light Eyes twitching, capturing images of the unfathomed I lift up as though I have Herculean strength Though I move as much as a statue Beauty that is statuesque Details that are carved out by poets’ verse A song sung by lovers’ hearts Emerges from the reaction of the written Challenged by forevermore in the here and now But never made uncomfortable by what they say Lethargy’s mindset becomes the great foe As whimsical thoughts lead to and fro I have died a martyr’s death to ill logic All for the sake of the definition of truth Thanks to the poet I calm like a still river While I rage like a hurricane affected ocean My insides are brittle when I stagnate But immortality greets me when I read the sonnets I plead for more when I shut the book But poetic lines never cease to speak As long as I lend them an ear For them to romantically whisper in Pushing me along literature’s unpaved path Photo submitted by Kathy Austin (Subject depicted in photo is not related to the story) Photo submitted by Marchelle Wear 6 Photo submitted by Granger Hughes The Well House Aaron