November 2011

November 2011
Inkblots
Oakwood High School’s student literary journal.
Visit our website at ink-blots.webs.com.
Table of Contents
Viburnum Plicatum
Katja Molinaro
Lost
Lee McClory
Impostor in the Buddleja
Chris Sneeder
Sunflower at Logan’s
Chris Sneeder
Creepy Tendrils
Noah Faust
Michael Wonders
Chris Sneeder
Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?
Mark Kravitz
Razzle Dazzle Rose
Celia Rasmussen
Combination Poem
Celia Rasmussen
A Day at the Zoo
Grant Cothrel
Grandpa’s Celebration
Grant Cothrel
Simon & Garfunkel
Sarah Manavis
1953
Celia Rasmussen
Skid
Chris Sneeder
Sunflower
Taylor Feeney
Behind a Gaze
Michael Engel
Fluid Simulation Test
Noah Faust
4 Red Vases
Hank Beyer
Coke Bottle with Classic Straw
Hank Beyer
Viburnum Plicatum
Posted by Katja Molinaro.
Lost
Posted by Lee McClory.
You crumble through my fingertips
chipped paint dissolves into thin air.
Soap bubble eyes glare from the sink
as our emotions dissipate.
The white marks my fingernails left
scar with the red marks you gave me.
I will hurt myself from all this scratching.
Impostor in the Buddleja
Posted by Chris Sneeder.
The Buddleja is nicknamed the “Butterfly Bush.” Apparently nobody told this moth.
(1/800 sec, f/4, ISO 100, 135mm f/2L lens)
Sunflower at Logan’s
Posted by Chris Sneeder.
I’d never seen a red sunflower before. (1/250 sec, f/2.5, ISO 100, 50mm f/1.4 lens)
Creepy Tendrils
Posted by Noah Faust.
Michael Wonders
Posted by Chris Sneeder.
(1/160 sec, f/1.8, ISO 400, 50mm f/1.4 lens)
Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words?
Posted by Mark Kravitz.
Walking to school today, I took a mental image of the scenery around me. If I was a Romantic
writer, I would most likely go on and on about the beauty found in the dying trees as the luscious
green shading towards vivid yellows and oranges. However, I am neither a writer nor an artist.
I’m a math and science nerd. So in taking this mental image, the common phrase “a picture is
worth a thousand words” enter my thoughts. But is a picture really worth a thousand words?
Yes, I get the idiom, and no, I’m not just trying to be difficult. Consider this. A movie at a local
theatre costs anywhere from $7.50 to $10 (ridiculous, I know…thank you piratebay.com). For
every movie, there is an average of 30 scenes, yeah? And in each scene, there’s, let’s say 5,000
still frames (don’t quote me). So that is 150,000 pictures per movie, and each of those pictures
is worth 1,000 words. So a movie is worth 150,000,000 words. And if you are still with me,
remember that a movie is approximately worth 10 bucks. So 150,000,000 words = $10.
10/150000000 means that each word we say is 6.6E-6 cents or .000006 cents… Alright, done
with math, on to my real point.
That was just a frivolous way of showing that our culture devotes little value to what we say,
when it reality, words are a lot stronger and contain more chutzpah than we seem to
acknowledge. Remember that nerd (me) who would cheesily say “Stick and stones may break
my bone but words will never hurt me.” Raise your hand if you’ve been hurt by something
somebody has said to you, about you, about someone you know, or just something so
ridiculous you couldn’t help but feel affected? You’re a freak if you raised your hand. I’m kidding
of course but words sting, words cuts, but in our greatest dangers we also find our greatest
pleasures. “I love you”, “You are beautiful”, “You matter”. These are just three of the phrases that
have changed my life in the most wondrous way. The first, being said by, of course, my mother.
That is, in fact, where we first learn what love is, is it not? The second was said last year by a
public speaker named Dr. Mykee Fowlin. Being a teenage boy, I am predisposed to be
judgmental. We all are. But he was able to look me in the eye and tell me I am beautiful and turn
around and tell a poor child with Downs that she too is beautiful, made me realize that I need to
see the world like him, find the beauty in everyone. I said the beauty “in” everyone”. I don’t care
about the beauty “on” you. The last phrase I wear on my wrist everyday and big, white letters.
This bracelet isn’t only for me, but for anybody and everybody. You all matter, to me, to the dude
you’ve been crushing on since 8th grade, and even yourself.
Look, I love photography, but I also understand that change is created by the words we say, the
people we inspire, and the impact we make on the people around us. So I challenge each and
everyone of you to speak up. Speak out. Say what you think, but think about what you say.
Believe in what you say and stand firm with it. Inspire others through your words. And, most
important of all, never underestimate the value of words. Because, you matter.
Razzle Dazzle Rose
Posted by Celia Rasmussen.
Combination Poem
Posted by Celia Rasmussen.
The house is all in darkness except for this corner bedroom
The arm of my friend hanging idly over my shoulder
I had no desire to speak
Awake forever in a sweet unrest,
Place me among the rocks I love
For each ecstatic instant
I’d understand it all —
One shade the more, one ray the less
Frail as antique earthenwear
My winged soul shall fly away
Without a sign.
And the life we give to beauty
Where are you?
All I wished to say
I reason, earth is short
So, give me solitude, give me Nature, give me again.
A combination of Collins, Whitman, Bukowski, Keats, Byron, Dickinson, Kerouac, Plath,
Brontë, Sterling, and Carman.
A Day at the Zoo
Posted by Grant Cothrel.
Grandpa’s Celebration
Posted by Grant Cothrel.
Simon & Garfunkel
Posted by Sarah Manavis.
This is a poem made up of a combination of Simon & Garfunkel lyrics. The songs used
are listed at the bottom in the order they were used.
Time it was, and what a time it was, it was a time
I saw a shadow touch a shadow’s hand
He once was a true love of mine
Lost in the dangling conversation
He used to lean upon me
But my words like silent raindrops fell and echoed
I need someone to comfort me
And I’m begging you please to come home
The last train is nearly due
I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why
Everyway you look at this you lose
But I will ease your mind
With words that tear and strain to rhyme
Take it don’t turn away
If I never loved I never would have cried
But the fighter still remains
I wandered empty streets down
Can you imagine us ten years from today, sharing a bench quietly
I know you’ve been eager to fly now
Let the morning time drop all of its petals on me
Bookends, Bleeker Street, Scarborough Fair, Dangling Conversation, My Little Town,
Sound of Silence, Homeward Bound, Cecilia, A Poem On An Underground Wall, America,
Mrs. Robinson, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Kathy’s Song, Song For The Asking, I Am A
Rock, The Boxer, For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her, Old Friends, Only Living Boy in
New York, 59th Street Bridge Song
1953
Posted by Celia Rasmussen.
Skid
Posted by Chris Sneeder.
Six second exposure with an accidental jerk at the end. Taken from the DAI. (6 sec, f/6.3,
ISO 100, 50mm f/1.4 lens, RAW mode)
Sunflower
Posted by Taylor Feeney.
Behind a Gaze
Posted by Michael Engel.
The clear glass pools that shift and sway,
that sparkle on a sunny day.
that range in colors green to gray…
that hardly seem to look my way.
When we talk I never see those spotted pearls facing me.
When our eyes lock at last I see a strange reflection pass.
Mine in yours and yours in mine,
to see what you see all the time.
We both stay silent as to see,
each others pupils and maybe,
to fish around and find a wink, in our constant rapid blink.
I cannot breath when I look deep,
in those pools of crescent sleep.
All I wish for is to say that we’ll meet another day,
and that you will truly know,
what’s behind this gaze I show.
Fluid Simulation Test
Posted by Noah Faust.
4 Red Vases
Posted by Hank Beyer.
Coke Bottle with Classic Straw
Posted by Hank Beyer.