Category: Portfolio

Window

by Mariela Flores ’23 My bed is placed right by a window.  My window brings in the cold air in December. I wake up with a stuffy nose & a scratchy throat. It’s as if I had been yelling the night before, maybe in my dreams. Screaming to be let out from the confines too […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Listomania: Places to Eat at PC When the Dining Hall is Closed

Koi pond (with some sushi) The one chair outside of your professor’s office Your car  Outside of Ray with the sweet aroma of garbage  Cowl office (if you’re lucky) Friar Development Center Testing center (before taking a swab) The tunnels  The priory  The center of the torch  Around the fire pits (during snowfall) Coach Cooley’s […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Silent Pain

Trigger Warning: This poem includes references to restrictive eating and body image by Grace O’Connor ’22 She was used to her bones jutting out, Her ribs, hip bones, elbows. She was used to her clothes never fitting her, As they would fall off her scrawny frame. Her face was pale and her eyes held pain. She […]

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

Sweet is the Tune the Harsh Wind Carries

by Matthew Ciesla ’24 ’Twas on a venture, enveloped in quiet cold, That a belief quite unusual did take hold: Sweet is the tune the harsh wind carries Of times long past and forgotten. And to our feeble sentiments it so varies, For ’tis of vast nature’s heart begotten. Past dark limbs a’sway I did […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Carolina Pine

by Sarah McLaughlin The red soil gives them their color And in return, they give their needles Painting the ground a ruddy orange. A nesting place for wrens and chickadees And dragonflies they provide, and the air Breathed by coyotes, does, and dingoes. Beware the yellow jasmine that twists its way Up unsuspecting trunks To […]

Elizabeth McGinn

The Sculptor

by Sarah Heavren ’21 I am a block of marble. There is potential hidden inside. But from the whole outside world, My purpose and value seem to hide. I exist for my Sculptor Who crafts me with unmatched care and skill. He has a unique vision Of a purpose that I can fulfill. Sometimes He […]

Elizabeth McGinn

Cargo → Flight → Crashing → Demigod

by Sam Ward ’21 CARGO The captive in the cargo hold Was the captain of a space vessel, Captured, or so we’re told, With ancient symbols superimposed On her chest, classic bodies, What are they worth, With no cause or effect? FLIGHT Do you hail from a distant star? Some planetary figure, Where foreign tongues […]

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