May 23

“Betrayal” by Karan Singh

The hands of the clock move faster than I can think.
The days pass away faster than I can blink.
The night leaves me every time the sun sets foot onto the Earth.
It seems as if everything I have come to love is running from me,
But when I try to chase my admirations,
My legs break into particles of dust,
And my tears soak
Into the ashes on the ground
Left behind from the world that my memories burned down.
As my legs continue to dissipate,
my knees hit the floor.
The wind blows my remaining memories
On the ground,
Into my eyes.
My pupils burn from the intake of dust.
The neurons in my head pound their hands against my scalp.
My eyebrows start to fall off,
And I am left to wonder
How every moment I have ever lived,
Every day I have survived,
Every smile I have ever given,
Every tear I have ever shed
Has led me to this moment.
I tried so hard,
So hard,
To keep it all together.
I did everything in my power to
Keep my world from falling apart.
I tore myself down
And changed my entire being to accommodate people’s words
Just to watch my life walk away from me.
I wished people well
And held the door for every person behind me.
I said thank you
And kept promises.
I made sure no secrets ever left my mouth,
And I protected my loved ones with my entire capacity
Just to have my life burned down in front of me.

I stare at the remains of what once was,
And I refuse to accept what my eyes are showing me.
I see you
Fleeing my memories
And tearing down my sanity.
I see you
Leaving me behind
For every tear that my eyes ever shed.
I see you
Walking away with
Every
Single
Person
I cried to you about •

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May 23

Artwork: To Be a Mighty Oak by Lynn Rollison

Media: mixed media acrylic

Inspiration: This piece was inspired by a walk on top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The acorns on the ground were prolific. I was astounded that each and every one of the thousands had the proclivity to be a mighty oak.

Takeaway: I want the viewers to see what “they” want to see and feel from the beauty of a simple acorn on the ground. Interpret as you wish!

Lynn Rollison, class of 1969, is currently retired and living with her husband in beautiful South Carolina. She enjoys spending time with family and creating her mixed media art.

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May 23

“The Magical Wishing Slug” by Beck Jewell

DRAGONFLY: A caricature of confidence
CRICKET: Tired and wants books
HORNET: Causes problems on purpose
BEETLE: The newly-magical child of cheese-makers
PEAR: A more annoying version of Hornet
THE WISHING SLUG: An ancient being with mystical powers
DRAGONFLY, CRICKET, HORNET, and BEETLE, make their way through a forest, coming from Stage Right. DRAGONFLY leads the way, full of energy. CRICKET follows close behind, reading a map and occasionally looking up ahead. Behind CRICKET is HORNET, carrying a large stick and whacking nearby trees with it. BEETLE anxiously trails a few feet behind the others.
DRAGONFLY: This looks like a good spot for a water break. Hornet, you have the water?
CRICKET: Hornet clearly does not have the water.
DRAGONFLY: They had it ten minutes ago!
HORNET: I did. I did. But there was like… this really withered, dehydrated creature, and I wanted to help it out! Save the environment and all that.
BEETLE: They dumped it on me. I yelled at you guys to help but nobody noticed.
DRAGONFLY: Hornet, no more wasting supplies. Cricket’s on water duty next time.
CRICKET: [waves their map] It’s either water or directions.
DRAGONFLY: Beetle’s on water duty next time.
BEETLE: Hornet’s just going to take it.
DRAGONFLY: Hornet is NOT going to take it.
HORNET: Nah, they have a point. Bonk.
HORNET bonks DRAGONFLY on the head with their stick.
DRAGONFLY: Thanks.
HORNET: You’re welcome.
DRAGONFLY: [takes a deep breath] Okay, no water break. How close are we to—what is this, site number eight?
CRICKET: Half a mile.
HORNET: Can I have an approximate approximation of how likely this is to be the actual magical well?
CRICKET: Fifteen percent.
HORNET drops their stick, puts their head in their hands and collapses in slow motion. CRICKET watches this in utter disappointment. BEETLE picks up HORNET’s stick, which causes HORNET to lunge and rip it back.
DRAGONFLY: Cricket, thank you for staying on task.
CRICKET: You’re welcome.
At Stage Right, PEAR appears behind the group from out of the trees, holding a magic wand. BEETLE flinches at the sudden appearance, but the others appear annoyed.
PEAR: Heyyy, Bug Coven. Ant Coven? What are you, again?
CRICKET: The Insect Coven.
PEAR: Right, right. That’s kind of a lot to say, so I’m going to stick with Bug Coven. It even sort of rhymes. Bug Cov-en. Oh, hi Dragonflyyy.
DRAGONFLY: [sighs] Hello, Pear. I didn’t expect the Tree Coven to be joining us today. You could’ve simply asked to come along.
PEAR: Oh no, it’s just me! It really doesn’t take more than one spellcaster to mess up a trio of bugs.
CRICKET looks around, using a hand to gesture that they’re silently counting the members of their group. BEETLE backs away to Stage Left so that they aren’t close to the center of the conflict. PEAR twirls the magic wand in their hand.
PEAR: I heard you’re looking for a library.
DRAGONFLY: Who told you that?
PEAR gestures to HORNET. HORNET grimaces.
CRICKET: I told you not to trust anyone with important information.
HORNET: I didn’t just give it away! I traded it!
DRAGONFLY: For what?
HORNET: This stick!! Look at the bonking power on this thing!
CRICKET: You’re a disaster.
PEAR: You guys are really annoying, do you know that? Aaanyways, I’d like your map.
CRICKET protectively hugs the map.
DRAGONFLY: I apologize, but we’d like to keep it.
PEAR shrugs and twirls the wand again.
PEAR: I could just take it. What would you even do, throw a potion at me?
PEAR makes a quick motion with the wand as if casting a spell at HORNET. The stick flies out of their hands. In the moment of surprise, PEAR grabs the map from CRICKET and runs offstage to Stage Right. HORNET picks up their stick and chases PEAR.
DRAGONFLY: Hey! Beetle, stay here. You’re not ready for a duel yet, if that’s what this comes to.
DRAGONFLY and CRICKET exit at a jog and speedwalk, respectively.
BEETLE: Bye, I guess.
BEETLE turns around, looks up at the tree canopy, and sighs deeply. They look back to where the others had left and shake their head. They exit to Stage Left. Moments later, DRAGONFLY and CRICKET re-enter from Stage Right. DRAGONFLY is holding PEAR’s magic wand. CRICKET has the map back and is smoothing it out. HORNET follows, dragging PER with them and holding the stick. PEAR is halfheartedly attempting to wriggle away. DRAGONFLY looks around.
DRAGONFLY: Beetle? BEETLE? Are they even here?
CRICKET: It doesn’t appear so.
DRAGONFLY: Did you send more of your coven to attack Beetle?!
PEAR: I didn’t, actually. Looks like your new pet was too scared to stick around.
HORNET: They probably went home.
CRICKET: They would’ve passed us.
DRAGONFLY: We’ll deal with this in a minute. First, Pear.
PEAR: My coven wants your map. They’ll just send more of us next time.
CRICKET: Why not reach a compromise? We’re witches, not wizards. If we find the library, we can’t use any of the spellbooks. We can have the potion recipes, you can have the spellbooks, and everyone’s happy.
PEAR: Actually? Yeah, I can bring it up. Sounds a lot better than your friend here HITTING ME REPEATEDLY WITH A STICK AGAIN.
HORNET: You deserved it. I’ll do it again if I feel like it.
DRAGONFLY: Do not hit Pear with the stick. A compromise sounds great. As soon as we find Beetle, I’ll arrange a meeting with Aspen. Is she still in charge over there?
PEAR: Uh-huh. Can you let me go now?
DRAGONFLY nods. HORNET rolls their eyes and lets go of PEAR, stepping away overdramatically with their hands up. PEAR brushes themself off and takes their wand back from DRAGONFLY, then jogs offstage to Stage Right.
DRAGONFLY: Okay. Time to find Beetle.
DRAGONFLY, CRICKET, and HORNET exit to Stage Left. Afterwards, BEETLE walks onstage from Stage Right, looking downcast. They start to sit down on a foliage-covered boulder, but think better of it and wipe the leaves off first. The boulder turns out to be a well. BEETLE gapes as the MAGICAL WISHING SLUG rises majestically out of the well.
WISHING SLUG [serenely]: Hello, child. It is I, the Magical Wishing Slug, here to grant you a wish. Any wish your heart desires! Except more wishes. Or world domination. [The WISHING SLUG sighs and loses their divine appearance. They slip into a New York accent.] Do you know how boring it is to wait here for years on end, hoping somebody finds my well? And hoping that their wish isn’t stupid? If your wish is stupid I’m gonna be real sad. So, go ahead. Impress me.
BEETLE: This is… quite possibly the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me, okay. You’re not even a slug. You’re just a person with an antenna headband.
WISHING SLUG: OH NOOO, YOU’RE BORING!
The WISHING SLUG starts to lower back into the well.
BEETLE: Wait! Wait. Could I have some guidance first? Just… some advice? Please? About my wish?
WISHING SLUG: I’m listening, I guess.
BEETLE: Okay, thank you. Hi, um, I’m Beetle. I’m a witch’s apprentice in the Insect Coven. I’m learning to make potions..! Which is cool. And my friends are looking for this well so they can find a library with a bunch of ancient spells that have been lost to time. And that’s also cool..! But I’ve only been a witch for a couple of weeks, and I’m not very good at it. Or… anything. All my friends– or, I think we’re friends– come from these old magical families, and grew up in the Insect Coven’s castle. I grew up on a dairy farm. So I don’t know if I want to use the wish to find the library, when maybe I could use it to feel less out of place.
WISHING SLUG: I did not crawl out of a well after twenty-seven years to hear some kid complain! If I were you, I’d be seizing my chance to, you know, BE ALIVE AND NOT BE STUCK IN A WELL? Get over yourself! You’re fine.
BEETLE: Oh.
WISHING SLUG: Does that hurt your feelings? You know what hurts someone’s feelings? BEING STUCK IN A WELL! You KIDS THESE DAYS! So PRIVILEGED! You’re MAGIC! You can go WHEREVER YOU WANT! YOU ARE SUCH A WHINY HUMAN!
BEETLE cringes. HORNET enters from Stage Right, skipping up to the WISHING SLUG. They bonk the WISHING SLUG with their stick.
HORNET: Bonk!
BEETLE: Oh, Hornet..! I found the well..! You can…wish for your library now.
HORNET: What? Ew, I don’t care about the library.
DRAGONFLY and CRICKET enter behind HORNET. They gasp in unison upon seeing the well. They grab each others’ hands and hop up and down in excitement.
DRAGONFLY: IT’S THE WELL!
CRICKET: IT IS. IT IS THE WELL.
DRAGONFLY and CRICKET squeal and continue hopping.
HORNET: I would like to make a wish, O Mighty Well Troll.
WISHING SLUG: I am a SLUG! You RUDE WHINY HUMAN CHILD!
HORNET: I wish for you to be a nonmagical normal slug for all eternity.
WISHING SLUG: WHAT?!
The WISHING SLUG sinks into the well. HORNET watches, then pulls a small slug out from where they disappeared. DRAGONFLY and CRICKET have stopped hopping and stare, aghast, at HORNET.
CRICKET: What… What have you DONE?!
HORNET: They were making fun of Beetle. They had to be vanquished, and bonking just didn’t do the trick.
CRICKET: [sighs] I hate you.
HORNET: Look, we can find the library without help. We found THIS! Well, Beetle found it.
HORNET gives BEETLE a high five. BEETLE hugs HORNET.
HORNET: Ew.
BEETLE [mumbled]: Shut up.
DRAGONFLY smiles and drags CRICKET over, almost forming a group hug. HORNET steps away, looking scandalized.
HORNET: No no no, I’m not tolerating more than one person hugging me. I’m gonna go put this slug somewhere, and uhhh…
CRICKET: I’ll need to revise my map.
DRAGONFLY: And then we’ll get started searching for this library! Maybe we can convince the Tree Coven to help out.
HORNET: Absolutely not. I’d rather cause a war than have to interact with Pear for more than ten minutes.
CRICKET: You’re terribly inefficient.
DRAGONFLY: Standing around is inefficient. You guys ready to head home?
Everyone nods. The group begins to leave towards Stage Right, DRAGONFLY leading. BEETLE is walking with the others now, rather than away from them. The next lines are delivered as the group walks offstage.
DRAGONFLY: Okay, okay; Cricket’s on map duty; can I trust Hornet not to lose the water?
simultaneously HORNET: Yes.
CRICKET: No.
BEETLE: No.
HORNET: You guys don’t trust me?!
CRICKET: For good reason.
The group continues chattering as they leave. •
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May 23

Artwork: Still Waiting by Lynn Rollison

Inspiration: This piece was created smack in the middle of COVID. It depicts exactly how I was feeling while isolated and waiting for the conclusion of the epidemic.

Takeaway: I want the viewers to see what “they” want to see and feel from this piece. Interpret as you wish! We all know exactly how we were feeling during that isolated time.

Lynn Rollison, class of 1969, is currently retired and living with her husband in beautiful South Carolina. She enjoys spending time with family and creating her mixed media art.

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May 23

“Triumphs of a Dying Breed” by Phil D’Arcangelis

Upon the thrones of wretchedness,
Beliefs were fashioned for our creed.
Crowns adorned and proudly worn,
Gemstone constructs of venomous greed.

Along once fresh and fertile fields,
We did spread like winded seed.
Peasants now grim and burdened,
Bearing bitter toils of dire need.

Marching as if in praise of death,
Armies drone on endlessly.
Storms of ideology mixed with power,
Kings of deceit all reign supreme.

Innocents hang their heads,
Too weary to even sing,
The hymn of their own contagion,
The plague mankind doth bring. •

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May 23

Artwork: Begin Again by Nick Garnhart

Medium: gouache

Inspiration: I was inspired by the way that nature reclaims animals and plants after death and transforms them into new life, in a different form.

Takeaway: I hope viewers can see the beauty in the natural life cycles of the environment, and can look at decay in a new way.

Nick Garnhart, class of 2018, is currently working as a scientific illustrator and avian research field lead for Virginia Working Landscapes in Front Royal, VA.

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May 23

“Things You Just Left Behind” by Beck Jewell

A new pirate stood on the deck of a ship
With a seabird in her heart and a cutlass at her hip.
The crew came to hear her story on the deck of the ship
And asked, “Why are you with us? Why make that flip?”

She spread out her arms to the sky and the sea.
“I heard of this life, and knew it was for me.”

The captain laughed gruffly, for he’d heard this before;
After all, he’d once been a man of the shore,
Who spread out his arms to the sky and the sea,
For he’d yearned for his life to be wild and free.

This young pirate was big, and her old life was small.
“Being normal is dull; I was bored of it all!”

The captain considered the reason she came:
She was hunting adventure, and something untame.
“This life works for some, if you don’t change your mind.
There are things you might miss, things you just left behind.”

She raised up her new sword: “So I swear by my blade,
I won’t regret making this life I have made!”

She was meant for the sea, right down to her core,
And she’d sail the great exploits the waves held in store;
It seemed that only the captain couldn’t help but long for
The things that he missed, that he left on the shore. •

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May 23

“They Cut That Tree Down” by Harika Tuna

You didn’t believe them,
Though they told you ahead of time,

And now you squint into the
dust blown by the wind,
Grit in your mouth
Scooped out of hope.

If you reach back,
Far behind you,
To when there was fruit,
To when there were seeds,
And it was not this dust bowl,

You can almost will your past
Into the present,
Juice of pears and peaches
Returning to parched lips
That have not tasted this sweetness in eons.

You sift the bone dry sand
Through your listless fingers.
You only carry the memory
Of trees, now,
Of youth, of the color green,
Healing and fresh.

You know, deeply,
There is no turning back.
You squint into the dust
Blown by the wind,
Waiting for The Maker. •

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