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Gar-Field High School Literary Magazine
Citation preview
The Shaman StaffCo-Editors
Moubin Ghafoory
Zach “deLo” deLongchamp
Creative Design
Leslie Woessner
Arnaud “Curly” Nall
Samantha McManus
Readers
Cambria Perry
Tiffanie Dzietror
Emmanuel Turcios
Flor Lopez
Taylor Diggs
Advisors
Lori Colasuonno and Bowen Vigus
Special Thanks
Thank you to Mr. Bixby, Ms. Cavalier, Mr. Bassett, Ms. Martin, and Ms. McDonald for helping to support the creative writing program at Gar-Field High School.
Policy
The Shaman is a literary magazine made for students of Gar-Field High School. All students in grades 9-12 are invited to submit their literary and visual pieces for consideration. The Shaman staff reserves the right to edit submissions upon acceptance for publication. Authors and artists retain copyright of printed submissions; authors grant The Shaman the right to print submissions selected by the editorial staff. The opinions expressed within are not necessarily in accordance with the views of the staff, advisors, school, or school board.
Colophon
The Shaman 2011-2012 was created using Adobe InDesign CS4 and printed by Staples. The text was set in Calibri. The Shaman online magazine was published using Issuu.com. The digital copy can be found at the Gar-Field High School website (Http://www.gar-field.org).
Table of ContentsWriters Page
Abigail Breeding...................................................................................................................................20
Shakeem Copeland..............................................................................................................................10
Da’Shawn Dunaway...............................................................................................................................8
Notae Eddo....................................................................................................................................16, 20
Sadiyah Faruk....................................................................................................................................8, 9
M.A. Ghafoory....................................................................................................................4, 7, 9, 12, 15
Aniiyah Jackson....................................................................................................................................13
Ashley Mendez.................................................................................................................................... 17
Aleia Parker...........................................................................................................................................11
Cambria Perry........................................................................................................................................5
Dejuante Pittman.................................................................................................................................16
Delray Sims...........................................................................................................................................10
Alex Tomlinson.....................................................................................................................................14
Emmanuel Turcios................................................................................................................................19
Artists Page
Marzana Chowdhury.............................................................................................................................17
Flor Lopez...............................................................................................................................................6
Katherine Medinilla................................................................................................................................5
Erik Nilsson........................................................................................................................................,...11
Dejuante Pittman..................................................................................................................................18
Leslie Woessner.................................................................................................................................9, 19
Regina Young-Tueros.......................................................................................................................13, 16
Friendship“A Love not from Mothers, Fathers or Siblings.A Love found from those who help you,without you ever asking.A Love found anywhere, all over,always celebrated with good times.”
M.A. Ghafoory
4
Trends at Gar-Field
Cambria Perry
It seems the 90s are back. A recent trend at Gar-Field Senior High School has proven this to
be true. The high-top fade is making what many see as a “big comeback”. Back in a time where the
jherri curl and mullet reined king, urban youth eventually (probably fortunately) tired of the extensive
grooming required to maintain these mops. Instead, opting to borrow aspects of a popular 1960s mili-
tary cut called the flattop and the flamboyant expression of the 1970s afro. These were the ingredi-
ents chosen to create the perfect hairdo. It seems though every hallway you turn at Gar-Field, a high-
top fade is in clear view. “Why not?” says student and resident “high-top fader,” Jamal Walker. “It’s
cool. The higher your high top, the less you fade into the crowd. You see what I did there?” This may
be true, but some people aren’t exactly “cool” with this bold statement. “If you sit behind him in class,
you can’t even see behind the kid’s big hair! It’s so annoying,” says teacher, Ms. Colasuonno. The 90s
may be coming back; nevertheless, many believe this symbolic hairstyle has simply become whack.
My Life
Cambria Perry
Oh how the years go by in a kid’s life
Time flies from childhood to adulthood
Many years suffering from parents’ strife
Knowing they are doing the best they could
As we go on we’ll remember good times
And keep bad times in the back of our mind
We go out in the world ready to shine
And wondering what out there we will find
Going through college and finding careers
A path that begins with education
Walking down it and facing inner fears
As days get closer to graduation
We’ll remember that this is not the end
And this is where our lives truly begin
Katherine Medinilla
5
Romance
“The blush you gain, The hearts that melt and race This Love will never be tamed. A Love ferocious, wild, and uncontrollabe, found randomly, by fate.”
M.A. Ghafoory
7
A Love Story
Sadiyah Faruk
Lonely
Only remembering
Voices, depicting
Every dream
Lovely
Over the daybreak
Venting our
Every feeling
Lazy
Overly auspicious of
Veering, towards
the Evening of fate
Luckily,
Only fools remember
Vague depictions of hate,
Etching out our pain
All I want
Da’Shawn Dunaway
I care about him more than he knows,
Every time I see him, my love grows.
If we dated he would see,
that we are meant to be.
He is full of love and care,
and he is so adorable especially his hair.
When I’m cold, I want him to hold me tightly
and when I’m sad, I want him to kiss me.
Seeing him brings my heart joy,
and if he was mine he wouldn’t be my toy.
I can’t tell him I want him for my own,
because sometimes things are awkward between us alone.
A spot in his heart is all I want right now,
from this boy who makes my heart pound.
I feel as if I’m falling in love;
he makes my heart fly like a dove.
I want him to feel like I do,
so he can see my love is true.
Before I leap, I picture him beside me.
Every night, I hope that’s what he’ll see.
Sometimes I think, why won’t he see
that someone that likes him is me.
8
Love That Moon
M.A. Ghafoory
Even the moon has a dark side,
But whenever I see it, I still smile
And think it’s beautiful.
So when it disappears, waning or waxing away,
Leaving a dark and starry sky
To remind me that it was there,
Shining for me and only me,
I’ll still smile, lie my head down, close my eyes,
And remember her beauty
Singing a Duet
Sadiyah Faruk
I love you,
Dearly so
And in your absence,
I began to wonder
If you could ever know
Do I mean as much to you
As the sights you see?
As the ever prevalent
Need to breathe?
Of course,
As you know,
The two of us
Sing in one show
And who’s to know
Where we might go?
Leslie Woessner
9
Blue
Shakeem Copeland
Baby, you spring time beautiful
And all these other girls is just squares like cubicles
But you fit into my life you oh so suitable
Don’t worry ‘bout the haters ‘cause they oh so critical
I love the time I spend witcha
Although I can’t paint
I know we make the perfect picture
I can’t wait to see you every other week
And when I leave I toss and turn ‘cause I can’t sleep
Love is for losers that’s just what it seems
But, now I got you, baby, I’m winnin’ like Charlie Sheen
Baby, you a star to me
And if you left, I’ll probably die ‘cause you’re part of me
If you a fallin’ star I hope you fall to me
I’m about to make it so you know that I’m a star to be
Hold up, I’ma chill with this Astronomy
But we the perfect equation like Geometry
It’s kinda mathematical how you is my girl
‘Cause me minus you equals the end of the world
You my only girl, there was never plural
And If I could I would buy you diamonds and pearl
But, No I ain’t rich man I’m only a kid,
If you think I’m being arrogant, well you got it all wrong
I’m just confident, baby, yeah I know I’ma ball
As long as I’m with you girl, I’ll never get lost
And if you left, I’ll be blue, and that’s the name of this song.
Color of Love
Delray Sims
A girl as a prize not an object
That’s why I work to get ya, project
Because it’s a fact, you’re beautiful, logic.
Your smile is bright, baby you can’t hide it
For you, I’d take a full tank of lead
Your eyes make my blood pump fast, red
I don’t want anyone else, that’s what I said
Because a home is not a home if you live alone on the phone with the one you love
Until you hear a tone
‘Cause I’m for you, skin to bone
I’ve been watching your tears fall for several days
But your eyes still trap me, a giant maze
It’s you, you’re where my heart will stay
When your color was blue
You thought nobody knew
You were scared
You thought no one would care
But I do, more than you can imagine
Girl, you are my princess, and I will slay your dragons
I am your superman and Lex Luther is saddened
I will tell you everything, break it down real yellow
Even if the beat stops, I’ll go a capella
Take your darkness and make it yellow
Make brighter, bring it higher
This dire
Do not fear,
Your prince is here to wipe your tears
Stop your gloom
Give you the moon
IF you accept me soon,
This buffoon,
I’ll hold your hand to the tomb
10
“I Write This Note”
Aleia Parker
I write this note to you though you will never see. I write this note to you because you are tearing me. I write this note to you because you don’t see me anymore. I write this note to you because you make me feel invisible, alone, and broken. I cry, I try, and you don’t see me. I yell, I shout, you don’t hear me. I sing to you yet still nothing. I’m tired of feeling hurt but the worst thing is I’m your best friend; we talk every other day. You see me but not like I see you. So I write this note to you hop-ing you feel like me, too. Do you? I didn’t think so.
Erik Nilsson
11
Family “The First LoveThrough all the storms of hatred, guilt, fear
Forever bounds them together.
A Family is only given once.” M.A. Ghafoory
12
Daddy: The 9/11 Story
Aniiyah Jackson
Papa always told me that no matter where life takes me, I’m gonna be somebody. I love to hear Papa’s voice. I remember he sat me on his lap as he read the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham. Every day, I look at his photo sitting on my nightstand. I miss him. I always ask Mama, “Where did Daddy go?” She always says, “Baby, he’s off to fight for our country.” I never understood what that meant.
The only time I was happy was when Daddy came home. He always wore a hat and was dressed in this weird-looking green uniform. When he picked me up he would say, “There’s my little sunshine.” That always made me smile. Papa was tall with big hazel eyes. Mama said she could see Papa though my eyes. He also had dark brown hair that curled when it was wet. People say I look like him.
One day, Mama was on the phone, and she started crying a lot. I didn’t know what was going on The next thing I knew, we were at a funeral with my Daddy’s name on it. I cried a lot at the funeral. I asked Mama, “Is Daddy down there in the ground?” She said, “No, baby. He’s up in heaven looking down at us.”
Regina Young-Tueros
13
The Manila Envelope
Alex Tomlinson
This story was inspired by a flash short story on deviantART.com by `yuumei entitled “1000 WORDS.”
I sit here, chewing a piece of wheat grass, as I draw the landscape on top of the hill, under the Oak tree. Calm, cool, breezy days such as this one were relaxing, and I could take my mind off of the world. Al-though, my mind was brought back to the planet, as I watched a young girl with short hair come to the summit of the hill I sat upon.
She looked at my drawing for a moment.
“I wish I could draw like that…draw something…special…,” She looked at the ground with sadness in her eyes, “Then maybe Mommy and Daddy might not fight anymore…” She held a piece of rolled up paper in her hands. “Please teach me to draw! All I can do is this!” She showed the paper to me, revealing a man, woman, and child hugging and smiling.
“It’ll take a long time to teach you to draw better…Besides I’m leaving this town tomorrow evening…”
“Then it’ll be too late!” she cried.
“Too late?”
“I-I can’t get them to stop fighting with a bad picture like this!” She cried more and proceeded to rip her art in half.
I pulled her into a warm embrace as I petted her hair to calm her down. “I’ll make you a deal. Give me your picture and meet me here tomorrow. I’ll give you a thousand words, because just maybe it’ll be enough to convince your parents…” I took her crayon work and smiled lightly.
“O-ok…” She sniffled. The next day we meet as agreed. “Y-You’re here!” I hand her a manila envelope with one thousand words in it, as promised.
“Don’t open it; give it to your parents.”
A year later I find myself in the same town that girl was from. On top of the same hill, under the same Oak tree I find the girl, but her has grown quite long since last I met her. I pat her head and she jumped to hug me. “I missed you!”
“You’ve grown a lot in just one year.”
“I was hoping you’d come back!” she shoved a small black book into my hands. “Open it!” I do as she commands. “I wanted to give you a thousand words!” she exclaimed gleefully. In the small book the words “Thank You!” were written beautifully five-hundred times.
“A thousand indeed…So I assume your family is still together then?”
“Actually…they divorced a month after.”
“I’m sorry.” I gave her a sympathetic look. “I didn’t stop your parents from separating, huh?”
“But…” she put a hand over her heart, “you did start something in me…I’m gonna become an artist like you and change people’s lives a thousand words at a time.” She smiled brighter than the sun. Later on I found out that the parents divorced because the father had extramarital relations. But they stopped fight-ing about it, at least in front of the girl, when she handed them that manila envelope. When they opened it…they saw her crayon drawing that she ripped, taped back together.
14
Spiritual “The toughest to obtain, the greatest to have, For it is A Love unconditional for all Man, and creature, and plant.” The Love emanating from within.” M.A. Ghafoory -M.A. Gha-
15
Sympathizer Notae Eddo
You look at us with those pitiful eyes The pity reeking from your glare
You only sympathize
Amplifying our pain It’s
a Shame
Your
Consultation only
Part of
Your games .
“We no longer fight wars”
Dejuante Pittman
We no longer fight wars over religion
and other matters of god.
We fight over forms of government and technology.
This is where the new world’s god lies. In the form of
manmade power and forms of limitations
that restrain freedom.
This is why the old god weeps.
His children have misplaced him in the material world
he allowed them to create.
Regina Young-Tueros
16
“I Have Crazy Love”
Ashley Mendez
I have crazy love for my abnormal friends,
The ones with voices in their heads,
Can’t go a minute without flashin’ a smile,
Can keep me from sheddin’ tears,
Teach me to smile through the pain,
Teach me to be a standout,
To be a black dot on a blank page,
To be myself,
To be abnormal,
Because bein’ normal is too boring to be,
The life of the insane is more fun,
The life of those who can keep a crowd laughing,
The life of my friends.
I have crazy love for a happy home,
Have crazy love for this illusion,
An illusion inside my mind,
Has always been in my mind,
Hope one day it will be a reality.
I have crazy love for my bipolar mother,
Who is happy one second,
And sad or mad the next,
Who carried me inside her for so long,
Who fights for me,
Even if she sometimes fights with me,
Who is my mom and daddy,
Who I want proud of me,
I have crazy love for live,
For the rollercoaster ride it is,
For the rush of bein’ alive,
It’s always changing,
With the tears and smiles that come with it,
For the people how walk by your life,
And for those who stay.
I have crazy love for music, for the ballads that speak to me,
For the words that understand me,
For the voices that sing aloud their minds,
For the beats that beat along with my heart,
For the beats that can’t keep me still,
For the lyrics that break my heart
That makes me sing along.
Marzana Chowdhury
17
My Life
Emmanuel Turcios
I never asked for any of this…
I never asked for the hardships in my life…
But somehow... They’re a part of my life…
I’ve endured so much …
So much… I’m surprised that I’m still standing now…
I guess… It’s my will… It’s kept me standing…
My mind… It’s like a battlefield…
Trying to cope with everything that’s happened in my life…
It’s a long and hard battle…But somehow…
I keep fighting… and staying alive…
My memories…They’ve taught me important les-sons…
Whatever the lessons may be… They either help me…
Or leave me with questions… About everything…
In my life…
My anger… My sadness… My loneliness… my pain…
They all speak to me… To always try to stay strong…
For my friends… Family… And for the people I love…
This is how I live my life… It is a constant battle…
But somehow… I stay gold…
Leslie Woessner
19
THE DIVISION (Scatters)
Notae Eddo
I bet I’ll die happy,
Cause’ it’s when I’m angered
I live
This lie
Life.
My decision to remain whole has expired and re-newed on several occasions
However my pain remains
Static.
I only feel when it hurts.
I only love, always.
Though I always...
BURN.
The pieces in which the foundation lay are shifting
Gradually,
always.
Until Pangaea is only dysfunctional again.
If only I could SCREAM? without feeling...
RUDE.
But pictures are never perfect anyways...
They are only a window into what the viewed want to be seen.
Never truthful.
Perhaps next time you should capture your clip in exposure,
Right at the scene of the
relapse.
The Meadow
Abigail Breeding
Death,
It came for the boy in the meadow,
A boy the age of six.
The boy was young,
Foolish and naïve,
Without a care for sickness or sorrow.
Yet, his playful ways were over,
Death came to take the boy,
For Death must show no mercy.
This boy got lost,
Frozen in a ghastly meadow,
Where the flowers now froze and withered.
Death caused this,
His soul numb,
Unmoved and uncaring.
Running, the boy came to know fear,
Fear of horrible cold,
Fear of the agony of loneliness.
Painfully, the boy’s heart cooled,
Until it was black as the night,
All of his once pure innocence was gone.
As for Death,
When he went to claim the boy,
The boy of just six—
Death saw death in the boy,
And could not claim him,
For now, the boy stood as Death.
20