When Your Body Was a Token

by The Cowl Editor on September 3, 2021

Portfolio

I was fifteen years old when I decided I could handle the weight of being “sexy” for their love.

I could put on the right clothes, give the right looks, say just the right things–––

until they couldn’t get enough of me, trapping them in my prose.

I was fifteen years old when I convinced myself I was ready to bare it all for their love.

They looked at me like I was pure Mayan gold, shiny new treasure they could break in, they could treat me like I deserved because I did not know the value of my body.

I was fifteen years old when they reached inside and took all that I had to offer them,

their hands were tainted red, blood trickling the sheets, blood trickling our time,

I tried to keep the noises down, the moaning––the pain, this was love, love, love.

I was fifteen years old when there was nothing left to keep us tethered.

There was something wrong––the only place they still told me they loved me was when we were entangled in red sheets and I was in the act of proving that this was love, love, love.

I can still feel the bruises on me.

The pain of fingers gripping onto flesh,

scraping walls, tearing walls, wounding walls.

But that was love, love, love.

I’m twenty now and I don’t know how to be “sexy” for any love.

I don’t know how to move my body––oh, how I hate to hate my body!

There are no right clothes, no right looks, no more sticky prose.

When your body was a token––a ticket to someone’s love,

it’s hard to remember how to be anything else.

It’s been so long.

I wish I could remember.

A Short Composition About the Sun

by The Cowl Editor on September 3, 2021

Creative Non-Fiction

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 to leave the comfort of my bed, to stroll outside and just live. As her loyal servant, I obey her orders, letting the sun’s stubborn heat darken my skin and lighten my hair. I allow her to peek through my curtains curiously, guiding me through my days, reminding me that yes, everything will be okay.

Naturally, I find myself wanting to be around the sun constantly, as her blinding light is one that never fails to enchant me. Sometimes, I am able to find this light in the best of people, whose aura is somehow able to match the starking clarity of the sun and her light. These people have rays instead of hair, their constantly bright personalities forever bringing me up. Their luscious laughs make even Scrooge-enthusiasts grin, cracking Medusa’s stone-cold statues with their striking smiles. Sun for these people is their oxygen, serving as the sole reason they are able to lazily walk down the same path as I do. These people are ones who give my simple life meaning, their pure, unfiltered beauty one I refuse to shy away from.

While my body strains towards the sun, the sun turns her back on me, acting as a mother who has decided to abandon her child. Like her child, I fail to receive a hint of warmth from the sun’s rays anymore, despite her whispered promise that she would embrace me forever. Traces of the sun clumsily stick around me, only reminding me that she decided to escape from me, ditching me and my failures behind. For her, harsh colors were the only way to see the true me, the one hidden underneath staged Instagram posts and silly fake “chaotic moments” shared with acquaintances that are as shallow as the delicate waves that crash on the sand by my home. I can’t help but stare at the sun angrily, wondering why? Was my personality so terrible, that not even I deserve a little bit of sun? What did I do for her to turn her stunning rays away from me?

The more I focus on the sun and her cruel game, the less I notice yet another being fondly looking at me. This creature stares at me, their head perched on their neck, watching me proudly. Their stone gray eyes happily stare, eyeing me with an expression I am not used to. While this being is far from perfect, it is still beautiful—their tiny light creeping into my room at night, when the sun decides to take her daily rest. The first time they keep me awake, I find myself still crying over the sun’s harsh abandonment, my salty tears staining my face and tainting my typically flawless skin. The moonlight’s soft glow pityingly reflected these miniature signs of despair, sighing as I drew in yet another shaky breath.

One night turned into many, and I found a new comfort: the moon. Instead of wrapping myself up in my blankets and falling to sleep, I would stay wide awake, engaging in strong discourse with a celestial being that successfully distracts me from my worries. Tears no longer weighed down my face, and my once empty skin now had its own personal craters, one that matched my new influencer’s. Happily, the moon introduced me to their family, their inviting glow, one that was not harsh like the sun’s, but comforting like a shower after a long, tiring day. These new friends immediately accepted me, loving me despite my flaws and reassuring me that perfection doesn’t necessarily equal happiness.

Two prominent bags permanently relax under my eyes, yet these small marks are ones I would not give up. Instead of searching for that superficial sun, I find myself gravitating towards people who remind me of my speckled friend in the sky, as their acceptance of me is far superior to the falseness of my sun-filled acquaintances. The moon and her precious light remind me that as humans, we are all flawed, not a single one of us truly possessing that blinding vision of perfection the sun attempts to force upon us. Their guidance has allowed me to give up this toxic view, and the stars have encouraged me to do what the sun has done to me in the past: turn my back on her. While I can no longer aim for the perfection of the sun, I now find comfort in knowing that the moon and their stars will accept me no matter how damaged I am, and I find that affirmation far more beautiful than anything else.

Listomania: Things I Forgot at Home

by The Cowl Editor on September 3, 2021

Portfolio

 Supplies for the elaborate prank I had planned on my roommates

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 A fan...I guess I’ll just melt
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 The pet hamster I was going to smuggle in

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 All of my Friars merch
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 My Goldfish stash
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 Motivation for classes
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 A pair of party shoes 
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 Room decor that’ll make my dorm look less depressing

 Shower shoes… hopefully the communal bathrooms aren’t too dirty

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 Anti-roommate spray
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 My sanity 
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 A phone charger (sent from my computer)

Tiffany and Earl

by The Cowl Editor on September 21, 2017

Portfolio

Dear Tiff and Earl,

Should I take the GREs? If so, how do I prepare for them?

Sincerely,

Forever an Undergrad

Dear Forever an Undergrad,

I’ve been so swamped with homework and life and friends and the missing Cowls that I haven’t even had time to breathe, so my future is something I just haven’t had a chance to think about.

Therefore, why would I waste my time worrying about your future? If you’ve taken the time to ask whether or not you should take the GREs, then take them.

I would have offered advice about anything—what to wear on a Thursday night at Whiskey’s, what I think about the moldy grilled cheeses in Ray, how much toilet paper we should use to TP the torch. Why would you waste my precious time with a question that is just… boring?

Good luck with the test you were obviously going to take even if I said not to,

–Tiff

Dear NERRRDDD,

Hmmm…GREs…I definitely can’t recommend Giant Rotten Eggplants. However, I’m always hip to a Gangster Rubbery Encyclopedia. Whatever you do, never, NEVER, forget to Glamorize Rapscallion Echidnas.

Yours,

-Garish Relatable Earl

Listomania: Places the Stolen Cowls Could’ve Gone

by The Cowl Editor on September 21, 2017

Portfolio

Burned in the Torch

The Koi Pond

The “No Storage Alloweed” Closet in Ryan

Random Dorm Room in Guzman

The Matrix

The Room of Requirement

The Tunnels under Howley

The White House

Shelby, Ohio

Canada (It Got Deported)

Middle Earth

Joey Aiello’s Trunk