Elizabeth McGinn

Listomania: Things to Do With My One Mental Health Day

Get a lobotomy Watch iCarly Get back to my knitting Start crocheting (knitting’s too advanced) Catch up on the sleep I haven’t been getting Have an existential crisis Yell at the sky Not leave my room…oh, wait. I do that every day Take a shower Catch up on crying (and then my work) Play on […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Tiff and Earl

Dear Tiff and Earl, I can’t handle The Cowl not publishing a new issue every week anymore. What do I do with my newfound free time in the off weeks? Sincerely, Cuckoo for Cowl Puffs   Dear C4CP, We at The Cowl are deeply flattered by your dependence on our weekly issues. Because you love […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Hypothetical Imperative

by Kate Ward ’23 My sophomore year of high school my parents gave me some advice You can’t control how others react, you can’t control their emotions At the time this was some pretty bad advice and I threw it to the wind I can do whatever I want, people will listen to me Four […]

Elizabeth McGinn

In Memoriam: Brownie

by Fiona Clarke ’23 When someone says, “My dog died,” there’s a certain somber ring to it. It’s a few shades less solemn than “My grandpa died.” But unless you’re Jimmy Stewart in Harvey (1950)—whose best friend is a 6’ 3.5” white rabbit, invisible to everyone else—then, well, man’s best friend is rarely a rabbit. […]

Elizabeth McGinn

This October Beach

by Marelle Hipolito ’22 Tuck my hair behind my ear, just one more time Before we leave this October beach behind Let’s look for one more shooting star Before you go and break my heart Take a hundred pictures of me in front of a blue sky Before you drop another goodbye Tell me you […]

Elizabeth McGinn

First Place

by Sam Ward ’21 Love is strange, strangers turn To best friends and back again When the feeling is less intense. Still, you left a mark on my heart Like an indent, and we typed the keys That codified the sequence.  “The sun still sets in paradise”  Even butchered Maroon 5 lines Reflect memories of […]

Elizabeth McGinn

For Better, For Worse

by Ellie Forster ’24 Margaret never liked when people made a fuss about her anniversary. Harold had been gone for almost a year now, and they hadn’t been a festive pair when he was alive. To act like that day was any different now just seemed silly. All she wanted was for Tim and June […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Lightning Love Stories

Ellie Forster ’24 She was a girlboss millennial, he was a Republican. Can I make it any more obvious?   Kate Ward ’23 He put down his pen, hand trembling from the writing and rewriting of words he couldn’t find to describe her. Placing a hand over his heart, he was finally able to find […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Twin Flames

by Mariela Flores ’23 You are not the other half of me. You are not a better half of me. You are not a nicer half of me. You are not a half.   Love, you are the roots of old pine. Love, you are a perfect cadence. Love, you are the spine of my favorite […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Jamestown, VA

by Angie Nguyen ’22 falling in love with someone you shouldn’t is like an ending is written before the beginning. you don’t listen to the bells, warning you of the heartbreak and the tears and the way the sparkle in his eyes dulls eventually because you’re so enraptured by the i-love-you’s and the morning kisses […]

Elizabeth McGinn