Ode to the Immortal Lobster

Adrienne Stallings, Senior, English & Writing, Bedford, Texas you’ll outlive even me. england declared you sentient recently. your pincers crush ice as easily as you’re boiled and steamed. just a little salt, lemon, & butter to achieve true divinity. dearest rock lobster, chosen of Poseidon, it would be fabulous to have you over for dinner. Read more →

Beauty Inside and Out

By Maia Gonye-Senior from Boston, Massachusetts    I fell in-love with myself. Staring at my naked,  goose-bump ridden body in the mirror, every bruise,  scar, patchy and uneven blemish.  Red bumps scattered, little freckles  kissed by angels, lumpy cellulite that flourished in contrast  to the slightest abdominal muscle tonnage.   A body painted with tattoos  Some have meaning and some… Read more →

Rediscovering Purpose

Kathryn Reid, Junior, Political Science & English, Keller, Texas          I liked sitting by the window because I could see above everything else. I was as high as the clouds, watching the city like an urban angel. I watched as taxis sped down 9th Avenue and past West Street, ignoring red lights and swerving buses as they drove. The streets… Read more →

Upon That Hill 

By Corrigan Smiley, Sophomore, Burleson, TX   We built a beautiful house upon that hill.  We had a beautiful family we started together,  So why did she take that pill?    Once was fine,  She needed it.    Twice was ok,  She was struggling.    Thrice was alarming,  She wanted more.    First came the shame,  “I’m sorry.” Then came… Read more →

suffering, but being strengthened 

By Lonyae Coulter, Senior, Kansas City, MO   i was quiet,  because i thought i had to be, i didn’t want to tell anyone what happened.  it could’ve been done to me another time,  if i told, i thought maybe i’d get hurt again or  wouldn’t be believed.  my mind, my temple, my soul,  all misused and abused,  felt like… Read more →

Innocence

By Christina Phillips, Junior   I hate the way they call virginity ‘innocence.’  As if sex is the thing that strips a girl of her purity. As if it wasn’t ripped from her shaking hands the first time she was yelled at, either by a woman demanding she wear  more or a man demanding she wear less. As if, when… Read more →

Black-Eyed Susan

Kareyn Hellmann, Senior, Strategic Communication, Creative Writing Minor, Paris, Texas Twenty-seven years of watching her shadow dance across the walls, twirling in and out of contact with his own. Twenty-seven years of watching her stare out the window, brooding on the color of the sky – always the color and shape of the sky. Twenty-seven years of placing flowers in… Read more →

The Importance of Self-Care

By Adrienne Stallings, Senior, Bedford, TX   We live in a time where it’s almost instinctual to brush off serious issues  as jokes. Don’t be mean to him, I’ll whine to my dog as he bullies my cat, he has anxiety. But really, mental health is no laughing matter. We take our physical health seriously—turning to a hospital or Dr.… Read more →