by The Cowl Editor on November 14, 2019

Portfolio

by Sarah Heavren ’21

It’s always darkest
Before the dawn
Darkness is still there
Before it’s gone. 

There’s always the hope
Of a new day.
But there’s still the wait
While the night fades. 

Good things are to come.
There’s still the fight
To get to the day,
Escape the night. 

Darkness has become
Like an old friend.
But enjoy the day
Before night comes again.

by The Cowl Editor on November 14, 2019

Portfolio

by Grace O’Connor ’22

She looked in the mirror and took a deep breath
Today was the day her life would change
She looked down at her newly polished nails as her heart drummed in her chest
Time was going by painfully slow but too fast

She stood up slowly and walked down the stairs in silence
The silence in the air weighed down with every step
The last time she saw her she was in her arms, the most beautiful thing alive
It felt hard to breath every time she thought about her

She sipped the coffee slowly as her mind kept running rapidly
She wanted more than anything another chance
A new relationship, one that she could cherish rather than one bear the emptiness
Of a relationship that was nonexistent

The ring of the doorbell echoed through the house
She stood up slowly and walked to the door at the end of the hall
She put her hand on the cold door knob and twisted it hesitantly
She gasped when she saw her face

It was the day that changed everything
One that she had tried to erase from her memories for years
But also a day she could never get back, all the emotions that she had buried inside
Sometimes would bubble up to the surface

All she kept was that one photo
That one memory
It slowly slipped away
Until that one moment, the day that changed everything

by Sarah D Kirchner on November 7, 2019

Portfolio

by Sarah Heavren ’21

I remember,
Thinking of days gone by,
That this started
With the blink of an eye.

 Before I was ready,
Somehow I knew
By some way at some time
I’d be with you.

 You were the first to listen
And the first to enjoy
The witty and clever
Humor that I deploy.

Over time,
Through many a pun,
It is true,
My heart you have won.

No matter what they say,
I will never deny
That I love all the puns
Of my sweet, punny guy.

by Sarah D Kirchner on November 7, 2019

Portfolio - Poetry

Here, November, warmth retires—
Rush to start the Winter fires!
Yet the Sun has not retreated
And left him for whom It’s needed
Without the glow which inspires.
And on the dead for which It’s whitest;
Yes, brighter, nay, the brightest;
Now on them shall It remain,
Now, on them, who have no pain.

by The Cowl Editor on October 24, 2019

Portfolio

by Sarah McLaughlin ’23

Tourists converge from Earth’s every corner to see
The piece of the past stored on this pebbled beach

All paths extending westward from the east
Meet here, the first of our nation’s vertices

It’s so special to so many, apparently
To view—The Rock—which began our history

They’ve never switched it out, supposedly
The first stone tread upon by pilgrim feet

It’s always tempting, every time you meet
Someone for whom it’s always been their dream

To stare down at this thing—a comical scene—
To make up some absurd conspiracy

“Now, I’m not saying it’s a government scheme,
But I think it was replaced in ’63.”

But then I decide instead to let them be
To let them stare—reverential and naive

We all have Rocks—things we cling to and esteem
And no local lark could break our make-believe.by

by The Cowl Editor on October 24, 2019

Portfolio

by Sean Tobin ’20

One of mine, but given:
Today when I arise
And see slow-rolling skies
Illuminate what lies
This bleak side of heaven,

Just one thought do I save—
How bless’d this northern shore;
The same which fathers fore,
Sea-sick, God-starved, back-sore,
Saw and knew they must have;

We know the sounds she made,
To hear minute man’s shout,
The Sacred Harp throughout,
Oak leaves falling round ’bout,
Over and over played;

Is she not the same still?
Green mountains surrounding,
Waves on white rock pounding,
Life through valleys sounding—
New England steals her fill, and so much more.

by The Cowl Editor on October 24, 2019

Portfolio

by Erin Venuti ’20

by The Cowl Editor on October 10, 2019

Portfolio

by Gabriela Baron ’20

I can’t believe that you did that to her.
You wore a mask of false integrity.
She was a captive, now unleashed from “sir”
Yet sinking back into naiveté.

The door is open, but she stays inside.
The birds are singing but she cannot hear.
I still don’t know where she wants to reside
She has no home, a lonely bright-eyed deer.

One day will come that she begins to change,
I hope the hands move faster around the clock
So she can be awake and estrange
Herself from him, unlatch the door, break the lock

Just as the hatchlings will learn to take their flight
Just as the sun rises to bring daylight.

by The Cowl Editor on October 3, 2019

Portfolio

by Connor Zimmerman ’20

A traveler without a compass.
A driver without a map.
A pilot without coordinates.
A sailor without the night stars.

My life is a journey without a destination in sight. Being pushed by a force that is beyond my control, I wonder how much longer I can go without some light. A reason that will make it all worthwhile. It is a small thing to ask for, but one that will make each step matter along the countless miles. I’m traveling in hopes of finding a reason:

A reason for why I am alive.
A reason for why I need to survive.
A reason that will give me my purpose.
A reason that will finally give me a direction.

People say it’s about the journey and not the destination, but what actually keeps us going? I envy those who can continue on traveling without knowing. They say that it is simple because they believe they are where they are meant to be. But I do not have their conviction, and I question my every move to the nth degree. I must continue moving; however, because I can hear it with every step I take… tick tock:

The sands of time are many, but every grain is insignificant.
Grain by grain, time falls swiftly and cruelly,
Doing its job without concern.
Until it buries us alive.

How many grains have I wasted? Wandering about aimlessly, I know that I am missing that for which I was created. How many lost connections, opportunities, memories have I sacrificed in my exploration? What if I have abandoned the trail that was made for me and wandered into damnation? It’s a question with no answer because I still lack the ability to truly see. I lack the ability to rid myself of these shackling thoughts and be set free. However, I will keep traveling because I know that there must be a reason:

Always
Walking,
Driving,
Flying,
Sailing,
but never knowing the destination.

by The Cowl Editor on October 3, 2019

Portfolio

by Sarah Heavren ’21

What if we listened
Instead of just heard
The meaning of
Somebody’s words?

What if we saw
Instead of just looked
At pictures
Somebody took?

What if we cared
Instead of just did
Whatever we
Thought we wanted?

What if we felt
Instead of just thought
About things that
Matter a lot?