What Oft Was Thought What Oft Was What Oft Volume 14 2017/2018 Volume Barry University Was Thought What Oft Was Thought Volume 14 2017/2018 is published by: Alpha Alpha Xi Chapter, Sigma Tau Delta The International English Honor Society Barry University Department of English and Foreign Languages Miami Shores, Florida 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Cover 05.12.indd 1 5/12/17 3:22 PM What Oft Was Thought Volume 14 2017 / 2018 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 1 5/12/17 3:23 PM What Oft Was Thought Volume 14 2017 / 2018 Published by the Alpha Alpha Xi Chapter Sigma Tau Delta, The International English Honor Society Barry University, Department of English and Foreign Languages Student Editors Melissa Diaz Jonathan Gonzalez Destiny Ricks Cristina Roca Faculty Sponsors Andrea Greenbaum, Ph.D. Lillian Schanfield, Ph.D. Graphic Design Thomas Rockwell, MFA Chapter Members Gregory Baker Nikia Brooks Kevin Dalia Melissa Diaz Jonathan Gonzalez Unique Harston Olga Hodge Brandon Parker Melodie Plaise Cristina Roca Vincent Silvanio Chandra Thomas Laura Alonso-Gallo Copyright© 2017 Sigma Tau Delta, Department of English and Foreign Languages. Barry University, Miami Shores, FL All rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Alpha Alpha Xi Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, The International English Honor Society 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 2 5/12/17 3:23 PM Table of Contents Cover Evaporated Girl Yanni De Melo Preface ii Comic Writer’s Block Anissa Hester iii Poetry My Kinky Afro Kahelia Smellie 1 Addictions Juliana Barona 2 Demolition Man Juliana Barona 3 I Wish I Was in Love Again Melissa Diaz 4 Mirror Thoughts Jonathan Gonzalez 5 Bad Presler Maxius 7 Battle Cry Joseph Medrano 9 Early Morning Scripture Joseph Medrano 11 Ancient History Veronica Moreno 12 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 3 5/12/17 3:23 PM If I Don’t Leap Steffane Wharton 13 Hope Edward Wilding 14 Fiction Why You Go To Starbucks Melissa Diaz 15 Felicidades Jonathan Gonzalez 17 The Dust of Life Ingrid Lopez Lorenzo 23 Purifying Springs Eduardo Ortiz 30 Rabbit Hole Paris Razor 39 A Simple Life Destiny Ricks 40 The Light Cristina Roca 46 Fallando Liana Rodriguez 48 Graphic Novel Self-Help Guide from My Suicidal Aunt Jessa Potter 49 Essay PTSD in Noncombat Personnel Patricia Martinez 64 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 4 5/12/17 3:23 PM Themes and Horror Conventions in The Exorcist Destiny Ricks 71 Keeping Up with the Untalented Matthew Block 77 Bob Marley Histography Christopher Berman 80 Impact of Autonomous Aerial Vehicles Julian-Alecssandre Dasilva 89 No Hablo Español Rachel Tellez 93 Photography The Metaphor Yanni De Melo i Waiting Ingrid Lopez 1 Beach Love Ingrid Lopez 2 Clay Man Jesus Lopez 3 Kono Victoria Newell 6 Bacak Victoria Newell 8 S+J Jesus Lopez 10 Almost Frozen Hannah LeBlanc 12 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 5 5/12/17 3:23 PM Over the Edge Odette Lopez 13 Indonesian Bus Victoria Newell 14 A Peak of Truth Yanni De Melo 16 Untitled 1 Brian Delgado 38 Medieval Alleys Odette Lopez 39 Lion Facade Odette Lopez 45 Wash Hannah LeBlanc 47 Clarity in the City Hannah LeBlanc 70 Untitled 2 Brian Delgado 76 Monarca of Nature Brian Delgado 79 Birth of Fibonacci Yanni De Melo 88 Maria Fiore Odette Lopez 95 Biographies 96 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 6 5/12/17 3:23 PM The Metaphor, Yanni De Melo i 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 7 5/12/17 3:23 PM Preface The members of Sigma Tau Delta (STD), the International English Honor Society (Alpha Alpha Xi Chapter), are pleased to present the work of student authors, artists, and photographers of Barry University. Our journal is open to an array of genres, including fiction, poetry, hint fiction, essays, photogra- phy, and graphic novels. We are able to gather these entries through sponsoring an annual writing competition. Our chapter members solicit entries, vet the submissions, and render their opinions as judges, a service for which they are formally rec- ognized at the University Honors Convocation each spring. The activity of reviewing and deciding on particular entries as worthy of publication helps them confront essential critical questions of artistic merit. We are pleased to include as well the winning submission for the Dr. Helen Connell Film Essay Award. This award is intended to honor the memory of a faculty member who was a remarkable film scholar, historian, and critic, and to promote the study of film as a critical art form. With each new issue we feel the need to explain the allusive title of our journal. What Oft Was Thought is a clause taken from Essay on Criticism, a long poem by the eighteenth century poet, Alexander Pope. The words appear in the following couplet: True wit is nature to advantage dressed What oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed. It means that while many have insight into human experience (“what oft was thought”), few have the ability to express these thoughts eloquently. We believe that those selected for this year’s issue articulate the struggle and the wonder of what it means to be human. Our chapter is indebted to Dr. Karen Callaghan, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who generously supports this project. We would also like to acknowledge Associate Professor Tom Rockwell, whose graphic design work and passion bring this journal into fruition. Matt Haig, author of The Humans and Reasons to Stay Alive, observes the writ- ing process as follows: ii 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 8 5/12/17 3:23 PM The 5 Stages of Writing 1. This is genius. 2. This isn’t working. 3. This is useless. 4. Really useless. 5. But this toast is nice. What he is saying is obvious to anyone who has confronted the arctic white page: the process of creating art is perilous, and the writer continually con- fronts his or her self-doubt. The writers and artists in this collection bravely overcame their fears and insecurities and chose to share their art with us, and the university community is made whole by their contributions. Writer’s Block, Anissa Hester *First Place Award, Graphic Novel, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2016 iii 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 9 5/12/17 3:23 PM My Kinky Afro Kahelia Smellie Braided hair parted in 3’s 4’s and 6’s Afros sky high reaching up to the heavens Hair coiled into perfection With Shea butter and coconut oil giving life to these tresses Hair defies gravity to stand on its own A coiled crown that demands royalty Gives life as flowers bloom in nature’s beauty Earth weeps at the sight of perfection Black kinky hair in all its glory Coiled, curly in different shades of melanin Beauty undiscovered and underappreciated for its abnormality Hair that defies reason and logic Turns deep brown to rich honey in the red sun Hair thick and strong in its blackness Needs no introduction in its black beauty. *Honorable Mention, Poetry, Sigma Tau Delta Writing Contest 2017 Waiting, Ingrid Lopez 1 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 10 5/12/17 3:23 PM Addictions Juliana Barona You’re conflicted. Deeper matters run through your veins, collapse from your eyes in the form of water drops, Your heart screams for help between irregular beats. You are the opposite of everything I’ve ever wanted. That’s a dangerous kind of love. The kind that burns holes through everything it caresses, The kind that leaves a stench… Your Newports touch your lips like when mine do, And I’m jealous every time a cigarette lingers where my lips should be. Beach Love, Ingrid Lopez 2 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 11 5/12/17 3:23 PM Demolition Man Juliana Barona With every inch of me cracked open… Standing before you, I—so foolishly—expected your love to be the adhesive that would hold me together. Instead, You were a wrecking ball, And we all know how that ends. Clay Man, Jesus Lopez 3 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 12 5/12/17 3:23 PM I Wish I Was in Love Again Melissa Diaz I wish I was in love again Car rides with no destination Daily fights about everything Kisses for no reason Dead flowers I want to feel something—anything. I wish I was in love again Cheap dates Sleepless nights Broken plates Smiling while kissing I want to miss someone—anyone. I wish I was in love again Crying over the phone Listening to vintage music together Holding hands Endless laughs No more silence. I wish I was in love again. 4 22131 - CAS - What Oft Thought Book Inside 05.12.indd 13 5/12/17 3:23 PM Mirror Thoughts Jonathan Gonzalez “You can’t do it.” We tend to underestimate who we are. We abandon life. We live in our scars. But we were made to survive–to thrive, Like an oak in the middle of a field. No wind or storm will blow it down. “You’re not talented.” Whether you sing or play ball or act Or draw or dance or cook or create, You are different.