Category: Creative Non-Fiction

Location, Location, Location

by Fiona Clarke ’23 I hesitate to claim outright that there are questions that are just bad (read: bizarre, intrusive, or just stupid) no matter the asker or of whom they are asked and no matter the time nor the place. Doctors, priests, and old people in general have a fair amount of elbow room in […]

The Cowl Editor

Pigeons and Doves

by Sarah McLaughlin ’23 There are countless bird-related trivia facts I like to spout over the dinner table, during walks to class, or in the delirium of three a.m. roommate conversations, but my favorite might be the fact that there is no scientific difference between pigeons and doves. Did you know that the sooty-looking birds […]

The Cowl Editor

Armenians and Bad Questions I Sing

  A guest may often ask his or her host this question: “Do you have a bathroom?” Some people call this an inane or insane question. I, however, think it’s both perfectly ane and sane. I am suspicious by nature and can sympathize with someone afflicted with reasonable doubt as to whether his host possesses […]

The Cowl Editor

A Short Composition About the Sun

  Like my tiny, overgrown succulents and plants, I naturally lean towards the sun. Sun for me is like water for fish, its harsh rays embracing me in the same way the ocean delicately wraps herself around a fish’s entire being. The sun and her beautiful rays call out to me daily, begging for me […]

The Cowl Editor

Tough Decisions

Trigger Warning: This poem includes references to sexual assault and rape. by Anna Pomeroy ’23 Since the moment our voices make that tremendous cry, we’ve been thrown onto a path. The doctor’s palms whisk us away into the comforting arms of a mother, a mother given to us merely by fate. Born into a family […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Sniff Anything

by Fiona ’23 The next time someone asks me what I do for fun, I’m going to say that I keep an olfactory scrapbook. My hope is to put an end to that line of questioning right then and there, and slink away in a cloud of enigma, but in the event that my dogged […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Drowning

by Anna Pomeroy ’23 It’s quite an odd sensation—the quick plunge into the depths of the tundra water. And while I haven’t truly experienced it, I can imagine the freezing temperatures and numb chills being mistaken by the bubbles glistening across every goosebump as they stream up the surface of skin. I would never romanticize […]

Elizabeth McGinn

St. Patrick’s Day Straitjacket

by Fiona Clarke ’23 It’s almost that time of year when I can’t tell whether I’m embarrassed or sunburned. Every year, I think, “I won’t get sunburned, it’s too cold, or cloudy, or I’ll only be outside a few minutes,” and every year, I find out the hard way that no, I can’t stand outside […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Writing Obsessions

by Anna Pomeroy ’23 I’d dream to write of hopeless romance. You know, something that gives readers hope for love, lust, and wonder. A piece that can appropriately inhabit a colorful and eye-catching visual of a book cover, one that glistens in the glory of being put on display in the front of the bookstore. […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Love is All Around Us

by Anna Pomeroy ’23 Valentine’s Day is kind of an odd day. You see, it’s hard to celebrate a day of being in love when you aren’t with anyone. And while the constant reminders of sappy love notes scrawled across cards and rose petals fallen behind the path of lovebirds walking becomes excessive, I can’t […]

Elizabeth McGinn