DeAnna Pope, MICDS ‘12, Poetry

Seeing it again.
Would be hell.
Always hotter than hell.
I could go jump off the balcony and be colder than in that room.
The bedroom and the bathroom.

Hastily, the makeshift door handle for the bathroom.
The bored crickets in the bathroom.
Lighting my only candle at night to keep me company in the bathroom.
I even cried when I thought it was broken in the bathroom.

I cried at night anyway.
The crickets would hop under my bed and try to soothe my tears.
I would draw images of a new rising sun.
When the pencil would break, I would read my books.
I was homesick for fiction novels.
Which I would put back in the same spot every time.
The same spot.
So I would know if someone stole it.
Maybe. If someone stole my reality, I could accuse them and get a chance.

More often, I would feel guilty for these thoughts.
But when I would feel guilty I’d look at my ceiling-too high for me.
To ever possibly reach.
I would try to put a magazine cover up there.
I was too short to put up a shadowy-eyed model on the top.

I missed you a lot too.
I would look at the magazines.
In room 709.
Trying to journal every night.
The same spot.
Today I’ll remember.

Playing the flute at night to bug the neighbors because.
They couldn’t speak English to tell me it was awful.

Anjuli Dharna, CHS ‘10, Poetry

The Act
Drum roll please,
as they takes Center Stage.
Each in Bright Colors,
my cousins– Family.

They are on display.
Center Stage–  in my House.

Off to the side,
I Stand, Bowler hat in hand,
watching, orchestrating– Conducting?

Right now they are the focus,
Audience, the World,
have a good look!

the Plans I have– Unveil
a disappearance, Severed abdominals?
The choice is Mine.

Minutes Pass, like years,
and still they stand, There.

5  4  3  2 1
Gone.
Just like that.

Who chose? They to leave?

No matter, I am alone.
Stage Right,
Bowler hat in gloved Red hands.

Applause?

Slingshot Stream Team Effort #1

Good Morning,

Last week Elena, Diane and I went down to the urban stream Deer Creek in our area and picked up litter along the stream bank for an hour and a half. Between the three of us we  each picked up one load of trash. However, since it has been raining so much recently the stream was quite swollen making it hard to get to a lot of the trash. But between the three of us, I think we did a pretty good job. We are all very glad that our Stream Team is now officially set up and our next outing for Stream Team will be 11/7/09, so mark your calendars and I hope to see you out there with us!

Anjuli Dharna

Anjuli Dharna, CHS ‘10. Behold the Midwest

Katie Johnson, CHS ‘10. Digital Media

Elena Makansi – MICDS ‘10 (Poetry)

Firefly

Spread-eagle on the billiards table,
I lay face-up, making the plaster swirl like an eddy
On the ceiling, the sky, the heavens,
Where my dreams float up and burn.
So I too will burn, burn to disappear,
To watch myself disappear.
Like my dreams, I want to fly
To float, to blaze.

We know it’s not possible. Birds fly,
Flies fly, Fireflies fly, Fire flies.
Not homo sapiens sapiens.

“What is the symbolic and supernatural meaning of fire?”
I ask, too cold, frozen solid, can’t move.
I am claustrophobic.

So I drink and so we all drink.
I douse myself, limbs like ice,
Stalagtites, stalagmites, der stalag,
In Vodka. In drink, in drunk,
I’m sinking, sunken, not quite like something old and weary
But like a miscarriage.
A sacrifice? A suicide?
A fresh-from-the-womb mistake.

I want to burn. Ice-block body incinerated.
I light the match, fingers like four
Robotic machines:
I am machina! I laugh, or cackle, or something.
So I light myself and so
I burn.

Kicking Off Year 2!!

SLINGSHOT!!!!
and We’re back.

I know I was supposed to keep the momentum going throughout the summer, but with everyone’s schedules and summer craziness, things just got a little too hard to handle, so it just became break time. Although, I did put a summertime post up and those pictures from the 4th of July night in St. Louis were pretty crazy.
So plans…
Well, Elena and I have been planning, and ideally we were thinking about doing a book drive, starting in our schools and extending through all our social networks. But, of course reality comes with its limits and we had to think what we were going to do them. And we have three option. One, sell them to make money and then donate the money to a charity. Two, find a charity that builds schools or shelters and donate them. Three, donate them to local schools and shelters in our own community that are under privileged and need books. But with these plans the main three problems are; finding a venue to hold a book sale, finding the money to ship the books, getting books that would be helpful to children who need them instead of just donating random cookbooks that no one wants anymore.
Since we are all very resourceful and bright, I am counting on all of us at our first meeting of the year to debate our ideas and try and figure out solutions as well as weighing the pros and cons.
Secondly, our next big plan is to have many bake sales. In our solo effort last fall we made almost $300 which we donated to MSF. And at the end of last year we were throwing around the idea of raising $10,000 to build a school. So at a low rate of $300 (mind you it was raining and thanksgiving weekend), it would only take 30 bake sales to accomplish and over a nine month period. So, with about 2 bake sales a month, we could actually get pretty close.

Thirdly, an issue I would like us focus more on this year. Community service and promoting our own art. While we have our blog with art work and literary efforts from all around, I was thinking maybe something more public, like perhaps and Art show in The Loop?

These are all big ideas to ponder so have no doubt that we back in action! I will be sending out an email with our first meeting date soon, so keep your eyes peeled.
I hope to hear from you all and look forward to our most impactful year yet.

Love,
Anjuli C. Dharna

as always a picture to part, how about a goodbye to summer?

Midnight Ice Cream Hunting Season a.k.a. Summer!

Summer Summer Summer. Slingshot is of course more relaxed during the summer since most of its people have dispersed throughout the globe. But, just because the meetings and emails have slowed doesn’t mean that our minds and ideas have too, for surely they have not! I am posting today to remind everyone that on July 25 we are having out SLINGSHOT @ the St. Louis Botanical Garden events and everyone should come! The botanical gardens are a very beautiful and inspiring place amidst most of the humdrum of St. Louis.

Ergo… Mark you Calendars!!! Also, I have some really nice pictures that sum up summer rather nicely, so I shall leave you with those! Enjoy

~Anj

A Magical Afternoon for SLINGSHOT in Forest Park with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival

Every year we are lucky enough in St. Louis to have the St. Louis Shakespeare troop to perform one of plays in our world reknown Forest Park for free. This effort started in 2001 with, of course, Romeo & Juliet. This year the play was The Merry Wives of Windsor, which truly is perfect for light entertainment and the enjoyment of company. The play was beautiful and the acting superb, if maybe a tad obvious at times. But, given that it is meant to entertain the general public, it clearly conveyed Shakespeare’s meaning bringing home to everyone from Ph.D Doctorate’s to little twelve-year olds with their family. In our group of six SLINGSHOT members who showed up for the play, I was the only Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis veteran and for everyone else it was a firt time experience. Which of course is awesome with our mission statement of promoting the arts in the teens of St. Louis! All-in-all it was a splendid afternoon, and we hope that next year even more people can come to enjoy a SLINGSHOT picnice and Shakespeare. And from what I hear, next year is going to be Hamlet, In Space!

Photography, Hannah Webber, CHS ‘10

Photographer is Hannah Webber, originally from Chicago, but currently attending Clayton High School in the Class of 2010.