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Arckmm MSMC AUDEMUS Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Art llr lume ring 2008 Mount St. *s College, Los Angeles $10 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation http://archive.org/details/audemusspring20001vari Archives AUDEMUSMSJV1C The Literary Journal ofMount St. Mary's College Editor in Chief: Ileanna Portillo Fiction Editor: Natalie L. Gutierrez Nonfiction Editor: Erica Graham Art Editor/Designer: KathleenAraiza Director: Marcos M. Villatoro CoverArt "Drum Circle" by KathleenAraiza www.audemus org . TitleFontby HaroldLohner "Audemus" is published by the English Department, The Provost Office, and the StudentAffairs Department ofMount St. Mary's College ofLos Angeles. Theeditorsinvite submissions ofpoetry, fiction, essays andart. Sendman- uscripts to [email protected] or to EDITOR/Audemus/Mount St. Mary'sCollege/12001 ChalonRoad/LosAngeles, CA90049. Manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed en- velope. SUBSCRIPTIONS Singlecopies, 10dollars 1 year(2 issues), 17 dollars 2 years (4 issues), 30dollars. Copyright2008 by Mount St. Mary's College ISBN Pending Printedby KotickMarketing Group, Inc. Pasadena, California91103 1 CONTENTS Editor's Note 6 Yahtina Macali, "Birches" 9 Marilyn Romero, "Untitled" 10 Ana Thome, "No ThankYou, Otto Titzling" 1 Jenny Kane, "Skirt" 28 Natalie L. Gutierrez, "Survival Techniques" 30 Marilyn Romero, "Untitled" 34 Evan Perriello, "Down in the Canal" 35 Mayra Rodriguez, "Ingrata" 48 Linda Ignarro, "CSI Daddy" 49 Jenny Kane, "Jampath Market, India" 55 Mayra Rodriguez, "La Brea" 58 Am Debreion Barnes, "I Fit" 59 Adriana Serrano, "Apology to a Child" 60 Deirdre Lenihan Sloyan, "Yorick" 62 Marilyn Romero, "Untitled" 64 Erica Graham, "The Spider" 65 Yahtina Macali, "Pain is the Mighty Equalizer" 72 23 Peggy A. Kearney-Sorranno, "Twilight" 75 Darla Jasmine, "Silver Lake" 76 Nick Kounalis, "Trumpet Sounds" 79 Mayra Rodriguez, "Lollipop" 92 Adriana Serrano, "Thoughts on the Way Out of 93 Tijuana Esteban Jesus Cons Narvaez, "La Dama del Pipa 94 de la Paz" Jessica Flores, "Woman's Worth" 95 Dara Halperin, "There Isn't Enough Courage for the 96 End ofthe World" Esteban Jesus Cons Narvaez, "The Vision ofKauil" 102 Cassandra Krieger, "Milo" 103 Mayra Rodriguez, "Straight from L.A." 109 Adriana Serrano 1 10 Mayra Rodriguez, "Art, NotWar" 1 1 Kathleen Araiza, "HighArt" 1 1 Jane Sandor, "Namedropper" 118 Contributors 150 Editor's Note A ModestlyAudacious Proposal — i fyou're reading this, good that means it's still alive. Most forwards are charged with the task ofwelcoming you to the magazine-togiveyou thatwarmfeeling ofholding anewjournal in yourhands. That's myjob. Partofmyjob. I'mangry and I'mworried. The written word is in danger ofextinction. I don't mean tobe an alarmist, butwhen was the lasttimeyou pickedup abook toreadforpleasure?Idon'thavehoursofleisurethesedayseither, butIcan'thelpthinkingthatifIgotoolongwithoutreading some- thingofqualitymybrainwillmeltfromwatchingtoo muchreality TV. This ideacame from growing up as an only child, very happy tobe alone. I'd askmy momto drop me offatthe library forafew hours so I could read. And when my little brother came along, I hadto escape to aplace where quietwas actually mandatory. Now that I'm in college, in this place that is supposed to ferment with the exchange ofideas, I expected that everyone read on their own time and, if not then, at least for class. In my three years attheMount, this has notbeenentirely thecase. Thereading ofbooks in general by this generation has gradually gone by the wayside in favor ofanything digitized and easy to digest. It's sad. It's notjustthe Mount-the wholecountry suffers fromarampant illiteracy (a recent NEA study showed that reading has declined dramatically in the past 30years). However, this is not anew phe- nomenon. I havejust come to recognize in my peers the fact that there are only a select few who readbooks because they want to. I'mnotblaming the lackofinteresttowardbooks on tech- nology or even on MySpace. I blame a lot ofthe apathy on you. You, who do not read unless a class forces you, ifeven then. You, who has never bothered to immerse yourself in a book because the ease ofthe Internet beckons you to click on this and that. This 6 Audemus is not a public service announcement forbooks. This is my anger at how easily they are pushed aside. It takes a conscious effort to decidetoreadratherthanzoneoutwithaniPod. Ifyoudoactually lift up a book, consideryourselfone ofthe elite few who can rise to that intellectual occasion. (Please send hate mail to audemus@ msmc.la.edu.) On my recent trip to NewYork City to theAssociation of Writers andWriting Programs (AWP) conference, I wentto afew poetry readings to get a feel for that scene. It was exciting to see that there are passionate people out there with original things to say through poetry. Still, I was surprised at how dry the readings were, as if it wasn't proper decorum to read your work with the emotion it deserved. It was also my first time in the presence of thousands ofwriters at once. Even on the plane ride to NewYork itwas obvious where wewere going. I'd neverseen so many people on public transportation reading at the same time. The couple in front ofme was editing a manuscript. Someone even stole my copy ofThe NewYorkerwhile Inapped. Now that's dedication to reading, stealing literature mid-flight. For these and other reasons, the editors of the magazine and I decided to do a little PR for books. To this end, we've con- tinued in the tradition ofMountVoices and accepted submissions from a variety of Mount students to highlight those who see the importance ofreading and writing. We've also called for and ac- ceptedsubmissionsfromoutsidetheschooland,moreimportantly, changedthe name ofthe magazinetoAudemus. FromtheLatin for"we dare," we chose the namebecause ourmeetingshadthefeelingofwantingtoincite andinspireanew appreciation for the reading and writing of quality material. We needed a new name that would encompass that feeling and open the magazine to the ideas ofwriters outside of our small college setting. It's my hope that this first issue ofAudemus inspires you towrite something orpickup agoodbook. Afterblaming you for the reason there are countless lonely books waiting to be picked up and read, I also want to commend you. You've opened up this Editor's Note magazine and given the writers here a chance to enlighten you withpoetry,fiction,andnon-fictionworks.Weeventhrewin some amazing pieces ofart to further stimulate you to action. The staff — andI threewomenI'vecometoconsidermyg—oodfriends,along with an authorwho helps us keep on schedule dare you now to write orread something. Audemus is a greatplace to start. Ileanna Portillo Editor in Chief Audemus