The Tenth Muse Science Park High School Literary Magazine 2017-2018 The Tenth Muse “Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.” - Langston Hughes Advisor Mr. Townsend Editors-in-Chief Ryan Agostinho and Litzi Herrera The Tenth Muse is dedicated to Ryan Agostinho and Litzi Herrera. Table of Contents Title Author Page(s) The End is Near Melanie Dios 1 Lost Love Ashley Rachel Sousa 2 Motivation Sasha Seopersad 3 The Day’s Beauty Alexandra Angelo 4 Her Little Light Carolina Heleno 5 The Past Natally Dennisse Gomez 6 Deprivation Enyshia B. Downey 7 Insecure Curls Ashley Bernard 8 Amanda Julian De Jesus 9 Lonely Company Cristian Silega 10 Chasing the Tide Jayleen Rolon 11 - 13 The Snowy Hike Ryan Agostinho 14 - 15 Lonely Writer Kai Jasey 16 An Ambiguous Struggle Darien Cruz 17 - 20 Self-Confidence Adeline Costa 21 Finding the Light Anmol Sethi 22 Deserted Village Ryan Agostinho 23 A Caged Soul Daniel Djanie Kotey 24 Our Next Step Gabriela De Carvalho 25 Success Micaela Generali 26 A Vital Organ Lisbeth Maza 27 Her Disappointment Bryanna Gabriel 28 Flare of Delight Darien Cruz 29 Your Worth Hakeem H. Ceesay 30 Just the Beginning Catherine Gonzalez 31 Life’s Fate Araceli Guartazaca 32 A Lovely Dream Eric Rattray 33 Adulting Nii Afotey Adjoga-Otu 34 Rose Tinted Glasses Alexa Bustos 35 Trapped Alan Mejia 36 Where’s My Award? Erika Vasquez 37 Victory Royale D’Angelo Morales 38 Thing Called Love Claritza Vega 39 A Reader’s Journey Andrew Perez 40 Sibling Light Gabriela Herrera 41 The Future is Bright Antonio Farinhas 42 My Greatest Love Barbara Cabral 43 Search for Hope Kiara Angelique Gonzalez 44 A Line Between Two Dots Kevin Ordonez 45 A New Dawn Anil Soodeen 46 The Path I Chose Kevin Zavala 47 Beautiful Females Shania Welch 48 A Masochist’s Delight Annah Mercer 49 The End is Near By Melanie Dios Pain in my head, my eyes fill up with tears, Upon my face they fall, I tear apart; The time has come the dawn is coming near, I’m not prepared, nor know how I can start. My hands they shake and sweat, I have no grip; My feet keep tapping on the wooden floor; The problems that arise, I always skip; I find distractions that I can’t ignore. The sun falls down as I remain awake, Becoming anxious, time is running out; The table trembles, making a mistake, I keep on going, and I have no doubts. The end is near, but we shall meet up soon; Doing my homework, holding on till June. 1 Lost Love By Ashley Rachel Sousa The one who's never to be so forgotten, Thus overflowing feelings changed all things, Even when body has become most rotten, To all sweet memories my soul will cling. My heart despairing has become pitch black, All of my fantasies in the lost sea, Like a dry well, content my heart does lack; Once so full, but now vacant of all glee. The loss of memory is my sole wish To rest in peace without your painful taunts; The unforgettable I want to squish, Only in death the heart no longer haunts. For once engraved in thoughts eternally, As death and poison now I clearly see. 2 Motivation By Sasha Seopersad I do dread leaving you, what's next is stress; I wish that I could stay with you all day; I have all of these quizzes and some tests, So I will have to leave and find my way. I do wake up to most alarming sounds, And I do see that it is dark outside; My face does instantly go to a frown, Out of my warm and comfy bed, I glide. It's for my future, that I realize, I must productive be, or I will fail; I struggle out of bed to win the prize; I stand and stretch and breathe and then exhale. I will go into this routine once more, Because today, I will improve for sure. 3 The Day’s Beauty By Alexandra Angelo She watches over all, the only one, Her boundless light befriends the morning sky; Unfolding, leaves and petals come undone, Making the owls sing tunes of lullaby. Without restraint, she rises from the night, She dances so that everyone can see; She clears away a path and gives us light, Yet we decide that we should let her be. We close our eyes to never see her grace, Eternally, we turn and look away; We shut her out despite her timeless place, Her presence rising at the turn of day. Although we need her, still, we pay no mind; To her, the sun, we make ourselves so blind. 4 Her Little Light By Carolina Heleno Her soul was once held captive by a thought, Whose darkness once controlled her heart and sight; Her confidence? It sadly had to rot, Because her strength came from her inner light. She had forgotten how to laugh and beam, To soar beyond horizons with no fear, Her eyes did want to shine, her soul to dream, To dream of eyes that never lie is near. She wants to feel again, forget, forgive; Her need to be set free grows with the days; Done welcoming the dark, she wants to live; Her little light will guide her through the maze. And so she found what she was looking for, Believing in herself, she could now soar. 5 The Past By Natally Dennisse Gomez Deception did control their feeble minds, It kept them blind not knowing the real truth; If only they escaped the grasp of time, They could have held on to their precious youth. Their lives were controlled by deceitful lies That had them live in a constant fog; They could have so prevented their sad cries, For they didn’t know what was in the thick smog. As time escapes, they live in bitterness; They should have listened, being more clever; They sit and watch lives pass in utterness, If only their years lasted forever. Past thoughts can lead to places of darkness, As one is left to live with their madness. 6 Deprivation By Enyshia B. Downey There are not too many hours in a day, It’s work or stress that always must be done; Fatigue may strike as lightening, you must lay, You must awaken well before the sun. The dam is just as needed as the flow; It’s like the soil in a flower pot, Which is so needed for the plant to grow; So overlooked, the soil did lose its spot. You take a break and sleep for just a sec, The thirty minutes turn into a day; When waking up, you stretch and crack your neck, You hope that you can make it up some way. Be careful when you take that quick ol’ snooze, If you do not be mindful, you will lose. 7 Insecure Curls By Ashley Bernard She tugs and pulls, but it will never budge; It does take her forever to work out; Again she tries with a real forceful nudge, But she will stop again and start to pout. Mother’s help does make the anger vanish, Her soothing touch makes it all disappear; Words smooth like satin when said in Spanish, She speaks as she does wipe away the tears. Her insecurities fog up her mind, But curls are the world in which she lives in, And she does know that they’re one of a kind, The honey locks sit pretty by her chin. Her tugs shall stop, and she will love her genes, Enough to teach that love to her first teen. 8 Amanda By Julian De Jesus A dress she wore, her age sixteen years old; Her eyes encumbered by a gorgeous light; Her smile, so kind, akin to her kind soul; She is a gem, we gaze at her tonight. A heart so pure, like a diamond new made, Eyes green like emeralds, permeate the soul, A happy, funny, and beautiful maid, A glowing sun on days that make us cold. Your day of birth, we celebrate today, With happy hearts we praise your life’s young run; Don’t ever change, Amanda, never fade, For when the night sets in, we’ll need our sun. Today you turn sixteen, remember this, I could not ask to have a better sis. 9 Lonely Company By Cristian Silega My grumpy life does pressure me to write, How I do really hate the way you hide, Invading my harsh mind both day and night, Always dreaming about my precious pride. I live with fear and love both in my heart, Not knowing what the future has in store, But I will not become the broken part, As it will burn as hot as the earth’s core. Yet hope I do pray stays right by my side, It slowly fades along with my bold dreams; It starts to leave my body from inside, But no one listens when I sing my theme. Though pain does come on these such lonely fates, Relief will sing when work does compensate. 10 Chasing the Tide By Jayleen Rolon There once was a boy named Owen, who lived on Pahana Island. Owen was the man of the family. While no more than sixteen years old, he was responsible for doing everything that goes along with taking care of two babies and one adult. To relieve the burden of the hot sun on his back while fetching the water needed for the necessities of living, he would often go to the shore at night, and he would linger there.