The Senior Issue!
Letting Go
Lauren Grisolia
We always say that we can’t wait to leave
It’s light years away, so won’t you ride with me?
Suddenly the futures flying at us,
Our ship is failing, the past is disappearing.
Take my hand and and keep it simple.
Keep it innocent and steady.
Keep it lively and stress free.
Keep my hand in yours and never let me go.
Never let me to go reality.
Never let me explore.
Keep me here.
But what is here?
Is it a simple life where everyone chooses our lives?
Or is it time to choose our own.
Letting go is hard to do,
But letting go is what we need.
It’s light years away, but suddenly here.
Time to let go.
Ryan Sugrue
One Small Step
Boggs
I took this picture the day I was taking my senior pictures. This day, it really set in that everything is about to change. I've always found solace and continuity in the woods, and this scene was something I'll never forget.
Jetty
Sean Carney
Tankas
Alyssa Hatch
Do not be afraid
to express what’s inside you.
Every day you’ll find
that through the eyes of strangers
you’re no more than just a face.
Justin Arena
Roger
A bottle of hope lay in front
of her and she realized she had
failed;
she was washed out,
no good,
a joke.
She took this as a gift and
took a long pull
alone, in a fortress of solitude.
Acting tough,
she sips deeper,
lost.
Actress
Lauren Illes
Receding
Celia Rosa
The Plantation
Rebeca Portela
The Battle
Mike Ahern & Christie Hurley
I try to help you,
But you don’t want to help yourself.
I pull you up,
But you drag me down.
I try to please you,
But my efforts are thankless.
You lock me out,
As I plead to be let in.
This battle has turned into a war.
And I’m losing my mind
Trying to find yours.
Grass
Mike Ahern
You stood on it.
You played on it.
You partied on it.
You drove on it.
You got hurt on it.
You were told to come to dinner from it.
You rolled on it.
You looked at the stars from it.
You were told to cut it.
You grew up on it.
You left it for a car.
You forgot about it.
You got rid of it for a driveway.
But someday,
You’ll return to it.
Daylight is blinding,
I wish to stay inside
Where it is cool or warm,
And, most importantly, dark.
I cannot think in
Direct light, so
I go to the dark of night
To figure out my world.
The sun is blinding,
The moon is comforting,
They are two sides
Of the same coin.
There are those who
Seek safety in daylight
And those who seek
Security at night.
I walk the streets
Of Rockland in shadow
And listen to the music
Of the shrouded town.
The Virtue of Darkness
Gavin Annis
A scratching behind a fence,
Wings fluttering furiously,
My own footsteps on the stone,
All are a song to me.
I walk in the cold stare
Of the Union Street lights.
I skip in the shadows
Generated in side streets.
I lie in the darkest patches
And stare at the sky.
I’m perfectly at ease
For I’m a denizen of darkness.
Any who would attack me
Cannot find me in shadow
For I am one with
The benevolent darkness.
I think my life through
And I figure out that
It is my duty to help
My friends trust in themselves
And in the darkness.
Caitlin Hedges
Celia Rosa
Gargoyle
Christie Hurley
The breeze blows in
brushing my white curtains aside
bringing a natural scent
All four blue walls surround me
displaying the past
with a scenes of nostalgia
sounds of birds bellowing
and children playing
fill the room
The familiar white blankets
in between my fingers
feel like soft clouds must feel
Within these four walls
my mind's at peace
as I listen to the voices
and the footsteps of family
Four Walls
Jillian Manning
Christie Hurley
I have memories from when I was young,
Memories of you,
Memories of you holding me in your arms,
Memories of the warm simplistic feeling that I felt with you,
Memories of being at home,
Memories of feeling safe,
Memories of being loved.
But those memories of the warm simplistic feeling, turned to stone
And I got ripped from my home.
Brutally tossed into the reality, that nothing good lasts forever,
And safety turns to fear,
And love becomes a labyrinth of complexity.
Memories begin to fade.
Until you are all alone.
The bitter silence, eats at your mind.
Until you have nothing.
Nothing but to be cold.
Nothing but to wish for those memories.
Kalee Lucier-Hill
Trevaughn Augustin
Sean Carney
Army National Whaaaaa?
Brian Macdonald
When I had enlisted
I was told I was part of the one percent
It was a proud moment
That had only lasted til I was sent to basic
Drill sergeants were yelling like vultures in the desert
Push ups, sit ups, and two mile runs all day in heat that was unbearable
Nothing but standing formations to be yelled at for looking around
All of it paid off at the end
I came home after graduation to be asked a lot of questions
How was it?
Was it hard?
Why did you wanna waste a summer?
I say the same thing to everyone to this day
It was one of those things that you can’t explain, like my mouth is duct taped shut so I don’t tell anyone the truth
So I say “It was hard, but all you need to know is,
It is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical.”
Taia Johnson
Sarah Kane
Social Anxiety
Dylan Cunningham
I can feel the words beating against my chest,
begging to be freed from my lungs
like caged birds.
If only I could find a way to free them,
to free myself –
but the cage is locked
and I lost the key too long ago to even remember
what it looks like.
The fluttering becomes more frantic,
senseless.
We know they need to leave but don’t know how.
Their trembling subsides as they forget their order,
realizing, as do I,
that they will never leave.
They will become old memories,
little dead things that will never happen.
Sarah Hunter
Trevaughn Augustin
A beacon of hope
taken by the darkness
even the Devil
was once an angel.
Good vs Evil
AJ Clark
Caitlin Hedges
Bella Rindone
Have I Told You About Your Eyes?
Jeremy Bradley
Have I told you I'm in love with your eyes? Have I told you how the light catches your eyes? No, no have I told you how your eyes catch the light and reflect it back brighter and more beautiful than before? Have I told you about how in your eyes I can see the universe? In your eyes which are filled to the brim with the arms of galaxies being pulled towards the black hole of your pupils, the same ones that pull me in when I look at them? Have I told you about your eyes and how when I see myself in their reflection, I see a happier version of myself?
The water fills the sky like stars
The clouds float weightless and elegant
The trees blow to the sound of the wind
Yet, we all live our lives, blind and clueless
Still the day goes on without any appreciation.