Tag: poetry
It Just Happens
by Andrea Traietti on August 30, 2018
Poetry
by Jessica Polanco ’20
Everyone dreads the feeling,
But they truly never know what it feels like.
It isn’t even a feeling,
It’s just something that happens.
When you get over an argument,
You don’t even remember the exact time you did
But you did.
And it just happened.
When something dries up,
After getting wet,
It eventually dries.
And it just happens.
The moon rose this evening,
It stood next to the sun,
It tried stealing it’s spotlight,
Until it finally did.
And it just happened.
When autumn trickles in,
Even though they say it’s on the 21st,
We never know exactly when because
It kind of just happens.
When we want it to,
When we don’t want it to,
And when it’s least expected,
Change happens.
All the time.
Beautifully.
Mirror
by Andrea Traietti on August 30, 2018
Poetry
by Connor Zimmerman ’20
In a mirror, the reflection is clear.
The image shows perfection.
I look just how I hoped I’d appear
I can’t think of any objections.
The reflection sends me back to the past
To the moments when I laugh and love.
All the connections that help me last.
The image has at last spoken,
I am completely unbroken.
In a mirror, the reflection was clear.
The image showed all my scars.
I looked worse than how I thought I appeared.
I didn’t see anything but the marks.
The reflection sent me back to the past
To the memories where I have regretted.
All the missed chances that shaped this outcast.
The image had at last spoken,
I was entirely broken.
Summer Changes
by Andrea Traietti on August 30, 2018
Poetry
by Marelle Hipolito ’21
It was many summers ago
Never forgotten, always remembered:
gut feeling of the end coming
before the snap
crack
and cry of pain, landing on impact
an injury so defeating there was no game to play
no win or lose, just over
a broken bone, a broken heart
impossible to put the pieces back together
It was many summers later
Thus set to the side, lowered of importance
Focused grit of beginning again
After the pick up
Put together
And laughs of love, standing and brushing off the dirt
An injury so defeating, yet defeated
Rematch
Healed bone, healed heart
Achieved through tape, tears, and friends
To The Ceiling
by Andrea Traietti on August 30, 2018
Poetry
by Dawyn Henriquez ’19
“Boom, then crash
The shattering of glass”
Strange fruit hanging and you expect us to forget the past?
Even though I saw my Momma in shackles at four,
You really believe equality is an unnecessary bore?
How quick to forget you are, truly, how fast.
Who of you haven’t thought that we’d be last?
The ones still standing,
Some brown amalgamations,
The most slandered colors in a crayon nation.
This hue is what sits between equality of heart and soul
And causes our people to pay red’s deathly toll.
So how dare you lie
When you say, this is a melting pot for all colors?
Even though we’ve always been aware of the skin that struts its stutters.
Be honest majority, you never meant it,
You’ve always proliferated yourself,
White supremacy: you cement it.
“And, yeah, I got anger
But I don’t let it take me down
Because my Momma taught me better
And she holds me up when I fall down”
Just so I can go forth with a scraped knee
Before the impending white sea,
Salt in my veins,
Weights on my feet,
Tears in my eyes,
Trying to shrug off defeat.
We all want glass broken,
Whether we know it or not,
But we live here, in this damn 64-piece box
Where white is the primary color in each slot.
And when we complain about the lack of preparation
All we get is fucking shame and deprecation:
Things like “try harder,” you say,
As if we can wear your boots
On our backs like flowing capes,
Prompting the question:
Is this the United States, home of the brave, where we got clean slates?
Or is this the United States, place built by slaves, the land that freely hates?
I think the latter, how about you?
Or are you out there too worried about your new hairdo?
Don’t answer that.
Yes, we’ve got anger,
Who wouldn’t
If their society was a strangler?
Time Heals
by The Cowl Editor on May 3, 2018
Poetry
by Sam Pellman ’20
Have you ever been in a moment and stopped to think about how much you’ll miss that exact moment?
That no matter where you are or when you are there, you will never be able to live that moment again?
So you tried to stop to soak it in, but nothing could replace that feeling.
Is it bittersweet? Or is it beautiful?
Do we dwell on the past or become hopeful for the future?
There’s beauty in every moment.
Knowing that the worst moments are never forever,
But some of the best have yet to come.
It’s not the time I’m afraid of, it’s the change that comes with it.
A year seems like a long time, but when you look back it’s really not long at all.
And who are you now? The same person you were a year ago, or someone completely different?
Have you changed? I hope so.
Who is still in your life and who has left?
Does that reality help you or does it make you sad?
I think time gets a bad reputation.
People are afraid of time, resistant to its close friend, change.
I think we hate change when it’s happening to us and when we think we are drowning.
But then we look back and we look at our growth
And we thank God for the change.
We thank God for the things that didn’t work out, the things we didn’t get and thought we deserved.
Because it’s made us who we are now.
Time has no expiration date; it’ll continue on even if we’re not ready.
It’s my job to embrace it, to let it bring in what I need and take out what is no longer giving my life meaning.
To take each day one day at a time, and trust that time has a secret agenda that involves my happiness in the end.
Time flies, and it deserves not to be wasted.
The Unspoken GoodBye
by The Cowl Editor on May 3, 2018
Poetry
by Connor Zimmerman ’20
Just when I turned towards you, I saw your face
With the tears gracefully gliding down your cheek.
You were smiling in your pain, trying to feign
I walked over and held you close, as I said:
“Smile now, don’t cry, ‘cause this is the first of the lasts.”
Going through the motions was something you could not stand.
The first time that we met as strangers in that dark room
You made me feel like I was the only person there.
Then, I could tell you would always care as you expressed:
“Don’t forget that I will always be there for you.”
Something that drew me to you was your contagious smile.
It was on display the second time we saw each other,
Though I will not forgive myself ‘cause I forgot your name.
You introduced me to everyone, as you shouted out:
“Get over here and come meet this amazing person.”
Oh, how the time has flown since I really got to know you truly.
We grew closer together than I could have ever imagined.
Our laughs, hopes, and fears all became exposed during our late-night talks.
I will always remember when I wrote you that note that whispered:
“Life is only measured by the connections that we make with others.”
I do not know if these words will be our end.
You must move on to the next stage in your life,
But I will always defend these memories
From the powerful forces of time and rage.
If we are close to our end, let us recall what you said in the last hour;
“One word will remain unspoken for we will never let it have power.”
I Heard You Quit The Team
by The Cowl Editor on May 3, 2018
Poetry
by Marelle Hipolito ’21
I heard you quit the team
I didn’t think you would, and I didn’t think you could
but you gave up your childhood dream
I heard that it was a long time coming
people weren’t surprised, your priorities were compromised
but you didn’t end up with nothing
I heard you two started dating
Even though I ghosted town, word still got around
It became official when you stopped playing
So, you quit the team, you quit the dream
And instead chased something that won’t be everything it first seems
Through all of this, did you ever think of me?
To All The Juice Boxes I Threw Away
by The Cowl Editor on May 3, 2018
Poetry
by Erin Lucey ’20
Walking to school,
Our eyes were so bright.
I arrived with huge passion,
Though my body was slight.
A yellow ticket each day,
And I giggle as I wait.
There were lines on the gym floor,
And a chicken patty on my plate.
On go the years,
And still struck with such pride
I munched on my goldfish,
With my lunchbox open wide.
How slowly the days pass by,
Though life moves way too quick.
Soon I was shuffling through the halls,
With a swift snack amongst the brick.
Lunch became such a game,
And on my journey to win
My juice boxes and animal crackers
Went right in the bin.
But why did I not realize
That it doesn’t matter who sees!
And if I could go back
I’d sip them with ease.
Because packing your own bag,
Marks the day you have grown,
But you will not yet realize
You missed the time that has flown.
Although I regret,
I know their flavor is now gone.
And if I could go back,
I’d make sure to hang on.
Because all the time in the world,
Would never be quite enough.
When you can’t relive the days
Of the peanut butter and fluff.
Oceans
by The Cowl Editor on April 26, 2018
Poetry
by Jay Willett ’20
“Careful, always watch your step when you walk here honey,” she hummed.
Grinning, I nodded my head and reached up, earnestly grabbed the railing.
Orange tired sun, relentless reflections, my soul,
Waves that roar, my mind,
Winds that rage and sway, my time,
Vessel that cradles me, God hopes you don’t sink,
Oceans beneath, how deep would you take me?
If waves took vessel,
If wind wearied vessel,
If vessel cracked, dropped me below,
I held onto the railing tighter and gazed upon the crimson fire sky.
The sun hung low but burned fluorescent flames above all.
Burning, charring, existing, for all years to come.
Memory—Two Halves
by The Cowl Editor on April 19, 2018
Poetry
by Kiley McMahon ’20
As I flip the pages of the torn up scrapbook,
I remembered the moment like it was just yesterday.
my mind boggles as I envision him and I,
I looked into his eyes lovingly and cautiously.
modest, humble, and conservative attire of gowns and suits,
The silk and leather which flowed from our shoulders to our toes,
in a perfectly attuned manner.
dancing flawlessly to the beat of the music,
Our bodies meshed instantly to the generational tune of the Beatles,
as the heavy metal music alarms our minds and meticulously floods our hearing,
as its tune rang in and out of our gill-shaped eardrums.