by The Cowl Editor on September 26, 2019

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by Sarah McLaughlin ’23

I slide my right foot in, it catches
A hole in the lining, my toe’s stuck inside

“Why don’t you just put them in the trash?”
I shake my head and smile, like it’s a nice joke

Thirteen years old, I picked them out
Thought they looked cool—black leather, gold eyelets

Sturdy, stiff, snug around both calves
Gave me half an inch, maybe, but it made all the difference

Laced up on the first crisp morning of fall
Carrying my steps ’til the first flower blooms

Weathered, worn, they don’t stand up straight
On their own anymore, need my ankles’ support

But the rubber soles, nearly flat, unseen
In return, still manage to hold up my feet

“Want to borrow some shoe polish?”
I turn away, pulling my double knot taut

Polish might cover the stains and scuffs
But only how bandages cover a cut

Laces’ ends frayed like roots of a tree
Clear plastic coating a distant memory

Socks always get wet, skin wrinkled and cold
Then they sit, stuffed with newspaper, by the front door

“Why don’t you want to buy a new pair?”
I look to the price tags, sometimes tempted for change

But each road, each floor, each path I’ve walked
They’ve held me up, half an inch, double knot, snug

by The Cowl Editor on September 26, 2019

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by Erin Venuti ’20

Every place I go, I take a rock,
So, when I’m floating off,
My feet will know to stay calm.

In my hand, the stone warms, wakes,
Remembers the spot from which it came–
A shore, a city, a country, a place–

Not long ago, I weaved my way
Through clotted streets,
Where crumbling concrete sidewalks
Turn to cobblestones,
Past gray ruins and vibrant pink houses,
Toward that stretch of stones
That’s kissed by the whispering water;
Where, regardless of the month,
The cement wall and stony shore are always cool.
That is,
Until the roofs of the houses behind us
Are warmed by the sun
And our faces are warmed
By the laughter that surrounds us,
And, suddenly, the rock doesn’t seem so cold.

Before I go, I take a rock,
So, when I leave this place
and I’m floating off,
My feet will know to stay calm,
And I’ll remember the spot from which I came–

That shore, that city, that country, that place.

by The Cowl Editor on September 26, 2019

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by Sarah Heavren ’21

I’m fresh, never frozen.
My thoughts are not cold.
They’re living and breathing,
Never growing old.

I’m fresh, never frozen.
I want to be heard.
My thoughts have some value.
It’s what they deserve.

I’m fresh, never frozen.
I don’t fit the mold.
I don’t just go along
With what I am told.

I’m fresh, never frozen.
Yes, I’m different.
But that does not mean
I’m incompetent.

I’m fresh, never frozen.
Although I’m alive,
I will not be spoiled.
My spirit won’t die.

by The Cowl Editor on September 26, 2019

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by Gabriela Baron ’20

The sky turns a soft gray and skeleton trees
breathe in life as the wind compels them
to stretch out their arms.
Animals in the forest scurry,
smelling the imminent rain.
Red cardinals take shelter in their sanctuary,
eastern box turtles retreat to their shells,
and squirrels dart up maple, oak, and hickory trees.

Water is paint.
It dyes hair a darker hue,
transforms buds to sunflower yellow,
ripens red raspberries,
and brightens lush grass.

One drop of rain hits a cardinal.
It trickles down its back leaving a bright royal blue trail.
The bird ruffles its feathers, trying to shake off the color
but the blue remains.
Droplets land on an eastern box turtle,
its hard shell a canvas for a splatter painting of fuchsia, lilac, and peach.
Thunder howls and the rain drenches the squirrels:
one turquoise, another crimson, and others plum.
The rainbow rain showers over the grass, moss, and trees,
flooding the forest with color.
The cardinals leave their shelter,
the turtles dawdle through the grass,
and the squirrels sprint down tree trunks,
no longer scared of a rain.

by The Cowl Editor on September 26, 2019

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by Grace O’Connor ’22

We sped down the never ending road
I could see the worried look on his face
As his grip tightened on the steering wheel
The trees outside the window blended together
As they erased into the distance

The silence in the air felt heavy and ominous
I put my hand on my stomach which felt bottomless
The sound of my heart pounding was the only vibration I felt
As the sweat on my hands slowly started to melt

His eyes were emotionless
As he turned around the bend
The headlights glared in our eyes
The sudden rush of darkness poured over

My eyes opened slowly
I felt numb and confused
The red and white lights were blurry
As the voices whirled through the air

I looked down at the scar, remembering this day
The narrow road I had always driven up and down
The predictability of getting to my destination
I cannot tell you that exact bend of the road to this day
Where everything went to dismay
I took an eraser and erased it all away

by The Cowl Editor on September 19, 2019

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by Marelle Hipolito ’22

here’s to the boys
who held me up when I was falling apart
here’s to the boys
who gave me their entire heart 

here’s to the boys
who wiped away every tear
here’s to the boys
who taught me to face my fears

here’s to the boys
who listened to every word
here’s to the boys
who loved me even when it hurt

here’s to the boys
who lived through my every nightmare
here’s to the boys
who to the Father offered for me ten thousand prayers

here’s to the boys
who are the quietest yet my strongest advocates
here’s to the boys
who stayed close even when 8,000 miles away 

here’s to the boys
whose hearts are treasure, rare and true
here’s to the boys
forever I will sing this ode to you

here’s to you boys
thank you for always being at my side
here’s to you boys
in the darkness, you are my light 

here’s to you boys
who exemplify what it means to be a friend
here’s to you boys
thank you for being men 

by The Cowl Editor on September 19, 2019

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by Sam Ward ’21

It is tell me where the rain goes
Not tell me what to think

Stagnated growth // forget that oath.

Simple thoughts translate so well.
But dress them up and you protect yourself
from being understood (that’s no good).

When you value privacy,
You find ways to feed the ego
Without risking perception of integrity (or lack thereof).

It is tell me where the rain goes
Not tell me what to think . . .
Manifest paralleled thought & pain shows
You just severed the missing link.

With confidence on corrupt ground,
Misled patterns entrapping all sound
Advice.
And there’s nothing harder than a broken rhyme.

by The Cowl Editor on September 19, 2019

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by Gabriela Baron ’20

Desde mi ventana veo un nuevo universo
lleno de miles posibilidades:
coches voladores, robots, y sueños realizados
y uno sin árboles, abejas y el té de mi abuela.

Desde mi ventana veo alguien que conozco
con gafas de estilo vibrante y un vestido rosado con volantes.
Pétalos de rosas secas
caen a sus pies.

No sé cómo ella es tan valiente,
pero aquí está,
enfrente de mi.
Una sobreviviente de batalles

que aún no puedo ver.

From my window I see a new universe
filled with thousands of possibilities:
of flying cars, robots, and realized dreams
and one without trees, bees, and my grandmother’s tea.

From my window I see someone I know
with cat eye glasses and a pink ruffled dress.
Petals of dried roses
fall at her feet.

I don’t know how she can be so strong,
but here she is,
ahead of me.
A survivor of battles

that I cannot yet see.

by The Cowl Editor on September 19, 2019

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by Sam Pellman ’20

It’s sunset and the mood is relaxed
I can hear the cars passing
The air is warm but I can feel it getting cool
For the moment, everything is calm

I can see others sitting on their porch
Talking and enjoying each other’s presence
Everyone is a neighbor looking out for each other
They welcome and are welcomed

Sitting on the balcony makes us feel on top of the world
So does being a senior
But everything is happening so fast
And time is just a concept that goes on and on
Never waiting for anyone

As I sit here I think of all the memories I’ve made
The good and bad, all of them with the people I sit with
These experiences have made us who we are
And now our time sitting on the porch is limited

But we have cherished our four years here
And will continue to sit on the porch, just in a different location
But as long as we are together
All is well

Our porch seems to be what is keeping us together
But it’s really our memories and our bonds
So for now we’ll let the porch be what is keeping us together
But we all know our future extends much further than this porch

by The Cowl Editor on September 16, 2019

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by Clara Howard ’20

Freshman year English class,
my teacher asked us to open Macbeth
and ever since then,
his lady has meant
“ambition” to me.

And ever since then I’ve been told I should act
like my life has one track
that’ll bring me straight to the throne
otherwise known
as a job I’d want to write home about.

But I gotta say…
I really wanna take a different route.

Because who wants to kill their mind
or break their heart
just to claim they’ve “mastered the art”
of climbing a ladder that’s missing rungs
and doesn’t even start
at the same level for everyone?

And, y’know, I can wash my hands as much as I want,
but my faults don’t hide in the stars,
they stay in the front of my mind
because they like to haunt me.
Like, hey, remember that time
you were almost at the top,
but then your eyes looked down
as your hand reached up
and you dropped to the ground
with no one to stop your fall?

They like to taunt me,
reminding me constantly
of what I could’ve had by now
if I’d only paid attention to how
Lady Macbeth unsexed herself.

But the thing is,
I’ve never wanted to sell myself
to prove I am capable of more.
The thing is,
I’m content with Cawdor.

And even if success is a distant shore,
I’d rather lag behind
than get stuck in the grind
of people with tunnel vision,
brought on by ambition,
who make it their life’s mission
to fulfill a self-made prophecy
that says they have to leave
some sort of grand legacy.

Don’t they know it’s okay to just be?

Fall semester Shakespeare class,
my professor asked us to open Macbeth,
and when I read it again,
his lady still meant
“ambition” to me.

And, honestly,
more’s the pity.