Light and Dark

A Literary Magazineof the College of The Albemarle

Spring 2014

Light and Dark

Light and Dark

Table of Contents

Poets Title Painters Page

Scott Terry ............. Will I Ever Know You / Mother Moon and Gnarled Tree ...Joshua Grimes .....................3

Catie Durbin .........Heaps ......................................... Caleb Edwards .................... 5Katlyne Preast ........Free ............................................ Kenzie Byrum ...................... 7Shahjehan Khan ....Wonderful Night ......................... Lindsay Doughty ................. 9Danielle Tuss .........Oh Blue Wonder ......................... Amanda Johnson ...............11E. G. Mckenzie ......The Winter Spider ....................... Lauren Goodwin ............... 13Darvell Brown .......My Heart / Love Flows ............... Danielle Tuss ..................... 15Joseph Xavier .........Supernatural / Dark Night ......... Jessica Ingram .....................17Aaron Young..........Ode to the Player ......................... Sunne Ann Plaquette ........ 19Brittany Hughes .....Breathe ....................................... Brooke Thomas ..................21Kaylan Cannon .....What is a Sister? / Sisters ............ Sunne Ann Paquette ......... 23Dean Roughton .....The Prodigal Drosophila .............. E. G. McKenzie ................. 25Tyler Helm ............. Dragonfly Wings Beat Softly /

Caribbean Blue ...........................Taylor Pless ........................27

With flesh comes all the dressingsof dross and drudgery and dreadthough joy comes too, with thoughts of youwhile down this path we tread.

As minutes chase themselvesBack and forth upon my browand seconds race across my faceI see you different now.

Every moment brings alongSomething new to seeThere’s more to you than ever I knewI burn with curiosity.

I want to know you as you are!To exhaust all my wonder!When every inch of you, I experience too,Only then my lust will slumber!

But God looks kindly on His creatures,and when all our years are throughwhen seconds are eased and time appeasedStill I wonder: Will I ever know you?

Will I Ever Know You?by Scott Terry

Before the mountains met their rootsIn the womb of God’s great seaAnd the birds in flight had yet to lightUpon the gnarled tree

Long before the mighty pillarsso strong and true were laidand the moon was set into the loomthat weaves a starry palisade

Long before the angelic hostfirst gained their wings and songsand with shouts of glee, ran their spreeAll through Heaven’s Halls

Long before the joy of lighthad dawned upon the shadewhen Earth was fell and in darkness dwelledwith no hope of accolade.

It was then that I first saw youand looked upon your faceBut did I know, within your glowLay the tithing of a race?

Is God so different from you and Ithat he has no passing dreams?Can clever smiles, possess me whilebeing less than what they seem?

We let go our hands before the worldAnd passing it from shadeI found you again, (with your winsome grin)though you’re different now you’re made.

2

3

Mother Moon and Gnarled Tree, by Joshua Grimes.

Heaps by Catie Durbin

We’re all just heaps of bone and flesh Studying others’ minimalistic thoughts Judging others’ fleshy hips And we put our bones to rest The moon shadows our milky, diminishing hopes of self-worth.

Self-medicated wanderers Lost and becoming more like street signsPermanently telling others when to stop and goWe’re all just heaps of bone and flesh.

Scuffing up too many floors with our anklesWe’re rigid and misplaced And yet we cling onto our ribsCatching our breaths for no one else to seeThe sun shines too brightly against pasty legs and words left unsaid We’re all just heaps of bone and flesh.

4

5

Heaps, by Caleb Edwards.

Freeby Katlyne Preast

Please be free, my little girllike a windy flower, twirlput those unnerving thoughts asideyou no longer need to hidepull yourself out of this whirl.

Shine, like the mollusc with its pearllet the world see you swirlDon’t let them catch you sigh,Be free, Little Girl.

Let the past of quarrelspread its wings like a merlewash away with the tideopen your heart, with pridedon’t succumb to the world,Be free, Little Girl.

6

7

Free, by Kenzie Byrum.

Wonderful Nightby Shahjehan Khan

All my life, I wanted to seeA nice pretty girl next to meWith a warm smile, on her face,With all the charms and full of grace.

I have two tickets to the danceYou and I will have a great romanceWe could dance until dawnAs the music plays on.

We could dance cheek to cheekLips to lipsDancing slowly with the slow beatAs we dance in a hotel suiteWe could have a wonderful night.

You have brightened my lifeWith a cool sensation nightThat I would say“You look beautiful tonight”I wish, I could, be with you,All my life.

8

9

Wonderful Night, by Lindsay Doughty.

Oh, Blue Wonder by Danielle Tuss

Oh, blue wonder reflect the skiesPierce me with your aqua eyesMock the moon, mock the sunPower like a loaded gunYou sometimes fall but always rise

You are fierce, youthful, vast, but wiseWelcoming tears from a cloud’s criesYour morning sparkle, sure to stunOh, blue wonder!

You stretch and yawn and waves chastise Washing away the past’s cruel liesBeauty never to be outdoneYou stand your ground, you never runMy heart and my soul you comprise Oh, blue wonder!

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Oh, Blue Wonder, by Amanda Johnson.

Winter Spiderby E.G. Mckenzie

When my heart shattered like glass,The winter wind bled in, andLike a spider I concealed myself,In a web of my own makingFor the long winter ahead.

Afraid to expose my heart, afraidOf the bitter frostbiteWaiting for the sun to shine

Breaking through my webbed armorA beam to warm my chilled heart.To woo me back into the light

I have lived like a spider for Many years, hiding Around corners and out of sightWaitingWaiting for spring to re-appear.

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13

The Winter Spider, by Lauren Goodwin.

My Heartby Darvell Brown

Open it, what do you seeIt’s you and meMy love for you pouring outI love you is what it’s about

It comes with trustIt comes with honestyIt comes with respectIt comes with commitmentEach all for you

This gift is very specialIn a way to be officialShows the love I have for youTo let you know that it’s true

Wrapped inside a bodyCan’t give it to everybodyEspecially not to anybodyYou’re that special somebody

Take it take like treasureTakes you on an adventureIt is not perfectIt’s you it selectsMy heart

14

15

Love Flows, by Danielle Tuss.

Supernaturalby Joseph Xavier

I desire to walk the night, Searching for evils to fight. Using powers beyond the natural,I’d even consider myself magical. I’m knight hunting the night.

I shall lurk throughout the night,Tracking down evil to smite. All while being causal.I am the Night

With all my might,I’ll cleanse the night. It may not be rational, To fight the supernatural. But a Winchester must always fight. I am the Night

16

17

Dark Night, by Jessica Ingram.

Ode to the Playerby Aaron Young

I am at my bestWhen I go to places where I need no rest.These places you will findBelong to a world of the virtual kind.It is in these places that I’m happiest. Some of my closest friends have no face,Random voices I hear through crackling space,Still I will fight by their side whenI am at my best. Whether I’m pulling a trigger, hitting a switchOr taking cover in the nearest ditchRacing light cycles on the GridOr traversing lands that man has forbidThere is one thing of which I’m sureI am at my best.

18

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Ode to the Player, by Sunne Ann Paquette.

Breatheby Brittany Hughes

one two threeBreathehope pray believe Breathe out of controlBreathewant no moreBreatherelease tearless cryBreatheone last timeBreathe

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Breathe, by Brooke Thomas.

What Is A Sister?by Kaylan Cannon

A sister is your rockShe will be there when you fall and help wipe off the dirt and get back up.

A sister knows all your secrets and you know all hers too. You fight and you make up Then you grow up, and you no longer share your barbies. You share moments, memories.You share an unbreakable bond.

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Sisters, by Sunne Ann Paquette.

The Prodigal Drosophilaby Dean Roughton

The fruit fly,a feckless, fecund little fellowlike so manyowes his existenceto the fermentation process.

Conceived on a Saturday nightin an overripe peach,he is content to wallowhis maggoty youthin a brandied hedonism untilthere is nothing left to consume.

From there, he meanders awayand perches on a sour mopor fallsinto a slimy drain,only to eke outenough sludge to sustain him forthe last daysof his only week of life.

24

25

The Prodigal Drosophila, by E. G. McKenzie.

Dragonfly Wings Beat Softlyby Tyler Helms

Iridescent friend

I have come to learn!Your spindly legs hold a stout bodyAnd your wings beat the air softly

How much more could you ask for?You are a dragonfly

And I could learn a thing or two From you

About happiness

26

27

Caribbean Blue, by Taylor Pless.

The poetry in this magazine was written by students in Dean Roughton’s Creative Writing class. The images were painted by students in Patricia Sterritt’s Painting I and Painting II classes in response to the poems. The magazine was

designed by Gale Flax with the assistance of Jed Buckson and printed on site at the College of The Albemarle, May 2014.

A Literary MagazineSpring 2014