e Th Stanly Community Collegeuse Literary and Visual Arts Magazine M May 2008 MakingMaking Connections I believebelieve tthathat peoplepeople needneed to shareshare theirtheir stories. It is my hopehope thatthat withwith eacheach year,year, The Musee will become a place for the Stanly Commu- nitynity CollegeCollege familyfamily to share our voices and displaydisplay our artwork, and in doingdoing so, learnlearn more aboutabout ourselvesourselves as membersmembers ofof thisthis community. I think this magazinemagazine is a fantastic opportunityopportunity for students, faculty,faculty, andand staffstaff to becomebecome more connected.connected. As you readread throughthrough thesethese pages, I hopehope youyou are amazed, touched, startled, and humbled, as I am, byby some of the thingsthings shared here. Writer Franz Kafka once said, “A book mustmust bebe thethe axe forfor thethe frozenfrozen sea insideinside us.” EacEachh piece ofof writing andand artworkartwork here representsrepresents a partpart of another person,person, and sharingsharing that partpart can feel like a formidable risk, but it is also a tremendous gift.gift. I thank everyoneeveryone who contributed to this fi rst issue of The Muse,, either with writing,writing, artwork or the creation of the magazinemagazine itself. Your contributions areare gifts,gifts, anandd thisthis magazine is your giftgift in return. May it bringbring you joy. SSincerely,incerely, LorriLorri Barrier EnglishEnglish InstructorInstructor StanlyStanly CommunityCommunity CollegeCollege VisualVisual Arts Artists are always looking for a venue to share their work with thethe world.world. Art hashas no placeplace sitting, hiddenhidden fromfrom thethe world.world. WithWith The Musee we offer another outlet of visual and verbal communication forfor our very own artists and writers here at Stanly Community College. This opportunity opens doorsdoors forfor our advertisingadvertising andand graphicgraphic designdesign studentsstudents to discuss, express,express, and presentpresent their talents to the public.public. We hopehope that youyou enjoy viewing thethe workwork presentedpresented here.here. JOSH GOOCH Program Head/InstructorHead/Instructor AdvertisingAdvertising & GraphicGraphic DesignDesign Stanly Community CollegeCollege The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the opinions of Stanly Community College. All poetry and artwork is assumed to be the original and free expression of the artists represented. The Muse is a literary and art magazine published once a year by Stanly Community College’s English, Advertising & Graphic Arts, and the Stanly Early College Divisions. No part of this material content shall be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the college. Any comments or questions about our publication should be directed to Michelle Peifer, Assistant to the Cover Artwork: Creation by Karen Lowder, President, Marketing and Community Outreach at 704-991-0393 or [email protected]. Advertising & Graphic Design Instructor, Stanly Community College. 2 M The SStanlytanly Community College Literary and useVisual Arts Magazine TableT of Contents TheThee TwentiethTwentieth YearYeearby Josh Wilson .......................... 4 A Walk in the Light bbyy Lorri Barrier ....................... 5 2020 Afraid bbyy Cody Shoee ......................................... 6 Dreams Defi ne Us bbyy Trixie Rogerss ...................... 6 Struggles Within Ourselves byby Trixie Rogers ......... 8 Magic bbyy Ashley Constan ....................................... 9 I WWonderonder for Megan bbyy MegMeganan Hartsell ................. 9 LLooveve is About Delicious Foodsbbyy Ngoc Doan ......... 12 Nightbird bbyy Elaine Nelson .................................. 12 SalvageYard Renderingsbbyy Ruth Goodwin ............ 13 Who Am I bbyy Obed Noel ........................................ 13 Four F by Charles Horton ................................. 14 A Lesson Learned by Rhona Etter ...................... 16 Beautiful PPainainbbyy Wilbur Ruiz ................................ 18 A Roseless Valentine by Obed Noel ...................... 18 Underwater Day Dreams by Kirsten KKoppopp ............ 20 NefNefertitiertiti by Josh Wilson ........................................ 21 Steal This Poem by Logan Hancock ....................... 22 Only the Eyes bbyy Tim Liske ................................... 23 Jesus Help bbyy Jessica Poole ................................. 23 4 LifLifee Around Us by Manda Burleson ...................... 23 Dead, LifLife e Journey, Know byby Kenneth Chambers ..... 24 The Price of an Education bbyy Obed Noel .................. 26 2222 3 TheThe Twentieth YearYear byby Josh WilsoWilsonn College Transfer StudenStudentt TurningTurning Twenty seemedseemed easily done No act on my part to spur it onon no indifferenceindifference to tthehe date;date; It comes like deatdeath.h. LikeLike deatdeathh comes twenty,twenty, stabbingstabbing idealsideals bloodybloody trinklets of innocenceinnocence risingrising from ssheetsheets embroidered witwithh powerpower ranrangersgers leftover from youtyouthh tthehe only power left isis thethe one in my pen.pen. TheThe end ofof thisthis period is thethe end ofof lifelife now it is rushrush and go toto be stabbed from behindbehind by cakes NativeNative Moon thatthat I no longerlonger receive by JJeremyeremy Hardy andand giftgift cards SCC Advertising & GrapGraphichic Design Student insteadinstead of action figuresfigures thatthat dwindle inin thethe mail box eacheach year. AfterAfter 16, no one cares anymore. TurningTurning Twenty seemedseemed easily done No act on my part to spur it on, no indifference toto thethe date; It comes like deatdeath.h. 4 A Walk in the LiLightght byby Lorri BarrieBarrierr SCC EnglishEnglish InstructoInstructorr he children were sleeping. They were all Skeptics, including my husband, simply say Tin the car, breathing in the darkness. I like the deer was fast. Maybe he even jumped over these night rides--they give me time in the quiet the van. I suppose it isn’t out of the realm of to think, and give my husband some much possibility. I prefer to believe that I experienced needed “alone time.” This particular evening the supernatural--one of those events designed was foggy and slightly cool--fall was upon us. to help a person reassess the worth and mean- I have always felt my eyesight was not what ing of life. it should be while driving in the dark, and this I have seen deer in droves since that incident, particular night was extremely taxing. The fog their little eyes sparkling in the darkness, their was thick in some low-lying patches, and the stark white tails on the run. Once I even saw a headlights from the other cars unavoidable in young buck tripping across a main street in my their brightness. hometown, early in the evening. I cringe when I I turned left down a country road--the long see them dead by the highway, their bodies still way home. I hoped to avoid the steady stream graceful in the throes of death. I see deer so of cars in town. For a few minutes it worked. often I have come to think of them as my totem Then an inconsiderate driver with high beams animal or “spirit guide.” on failed to turn them down as I approached. In this area deer are often regarded as little I had to look away from the road to shield my more than garden pests; something to be eyes, and when he passed and I looked back, a shooed away, shot at random, or even poisoned. deer stood directly in my path. Near the fence on my grandfather’s property, There was no time to react. This was as close one year we found the carcass of a deer, antlers as I’d ever been to a deer, and I could see this gauged out, full body discarded like garbage. was a buck, large and full-bodied. I gasped, no The waste and disrespect hurts me. The deer time even for a scream, and braced to hit the has a noble history in many cultures, respon- enormous deer full-force. I was clenched, tense, sible for feeding and clothing a people, the very and hoping my children wouldn’t be hurt badly. life-blood of the community, and was honored Then suddenly, I realized that it was over. I as such. never hit the deer. I looked behind me. The In Celtic mythology, a deer symbolizes swift- deer was gone. ness, gentleness, and my favorite--“walking I wondered if it had been there at all. I had in the light.” I remember that night and the the surreal feeling that perhaps we had hit the deer reflected in my headlights, a harbinger deer, then veered off the road, collided with a of change, and I think about what it means to tree and were killed. Just like in the movies-- “walk in the light.” I think it means being true twilight-zone effect--the killed souls do not yet to your heart, and living life with a sense of clar- know they are dead and drift around in confu- ity and purpose. This is what I hope for myself sion. Were we lonely spirits in the afterlife, con- and for my children, above all else. tinuing to drive while my husband was being Sometime, when my children are older, I know informed just now of the tragedy? The darkness I will tell them the story of the deer in the road. and the fog nearly made me believe it. I’ll make sure they understand that they were When I finally pulled into our driveway, my with me, and even though they were sleeping, husband met me at the steps and helped carry they were blessed by the deer spirit, too. We our sleeping children inside. I was sure now all need a touchstone in such a world of uncer- that we were alive, and not a part of some tainty. Know things in nature are like a person. Talk to Hollywood-imagined ghost story. Later that tornadoes; talk to thunder, they are your friends and will night I said to my husband, “I almost hit a deer. protect you. -- A Navajo Poem I mean really hit one. It was right there.” It was The Native American poem reminds us that difficult to find the words to describe my experi- even the things that frighten us most are our ence. “I felt like I actually passed through the talismans. What am I afraid of? I ask myself. body without hitting it,” I explained.