Tag: Living in the Moment

Isabella Abril

The Purple Visitor

Lavender, lilac, irises
Stare up at me, sheepishly, from the garden. 
Timid and rooted in place,
My voice a whisper I soothe, “You’ll be alright”.

Out from the flowers
She flutters a delicate flight with iridescent wings. A beautiful, tiny fairy,
With the most marvelous purple eyes I’ve ever seen.

A lost one, at that.
Her voice a flowing harp, she speaks her woes, 
“I became separated”.
From her colony, during the great migration.

Out of pity and awe,
I offer her a silver teaspoon of honey and sugar. 
She sips and she rests
Until the morning light. And when I go out

To the garden
Once more on the dawn of the following day, 
I find she has gone.

Passerby aside, I tend to my lavender, lilac, and irises.

Party of the Matriarch

Bright glistening balloons filled the room
My lungs deflated as I gave life to the last one. 
An unfamiliar feast sat atop the table
With a few familiar foods from long ago.


Lumpia.

            Adobo.

                         Pancit.



A momentary pause from gossip, my Tita says, 
“Try this one.” and adds a pastry to my plate.
I sit back, my ears eager to listen to new sounds 
Nodding my head, as if I perfectly understood.


With bellies full, smiles spread, and if you look 
Close enough you could see food stuck in teeth. 
But that does not matter, when you are Jolly-
Because the festivities are about to really begin.



The dusty karaoke got wheeled out from the closet. 
My Tito held up the mic, and lived out his daydreams
 
Of a superstar in his mother-in-law’s living room. 
They danced and sang along to a familiar song,


But I had to read the words from the t.v. screen.
I remembered the lyrics, “Awitin mo at isasayaw ko” 
And when the party ended I discovered the meaning. 
“Sing and I will dance.” “Sing and I will dance.”


I’ve since learned all of the lyrics on my own. 
Sometimes I find myself in my own living room, 
Humming along to that tune and fondly remember 
The gathering and celebration of my Filipino family.

Isabella “Isa” Abril is an undergraduate student at Cal State San Marcos.  She enjoys writing poetry and short stories. Although she does not entirely believe in the supernatural, she would like any and all spirits who happen to stumble across her to respectfully leave her alone. Unless they can do something really cool. 

Rachel Schultz

One Home

Everyone is born into the same home
Earth is the main home for all of its 
occupants People, creatures, and other living 
things
Mother Nature has endured much suffering with the rise of human advancements
An advantage to humans now is a disadvantage to other living things, and later us
From a young age we’re taught to clean up after ourselves and to leave a space cleaner than 
youfound it
Why does that not apply to some for Earth 
itself? Is it because the mess can not be seen?
The garbage patches floating in the oceans
The garbage dumps hidden away from plain 
sightIt may feel convenient to not care now
But people always care when it’s too late

Rachel Schultz is a 3rd-year psychology major with a minor in literature and writing at CSUSM. Alongside being a student she also works a part-time job. She aspires to be a high school teacher.

Brendan Cox

Ballad of the Souls Part I (My Leviathan)

Pale beaches,
and a spectral colored sea.
These are the
things important to me.
Underneath
waves of pink, blue, and red
is Her only:
the creature in my head.
She was selfish,
angelic Leviathan,
keeping color
for Herself and not the sand.
I wrote a song
and cast my lure into blue,
but deeper She
swam into different hues.
She was desperate
to escape my lyrics and pleas,
that begged Her to bring
Her love to the colorless beach.
I dove from the dock,
descending for thousands of leagues
in hasty pursuit,
pushing on despite my fatigue.
The pressure was building.
I felt like I was starting to choke
on deeply dyed water.
Close to death with words I hadn’t yet spoke.

That was when I saw Her

laying on the dark of the sea floor,
rooted and unmoving,
refusing to return to the shore.
“Won’t you share your hues?”, I plead.
With a blush that lit up the dark She said
She couldn’t remember how.
I leaned in and kissed Her beautiful head.
I gave Her my hand and I
sang to Her until She heard from my song
that She was the puzzle piece
that I had been searching for all along.
We embraced
and we wept star colored tears.
She’s my life.
It’s like we’ve been apart years.
Now my sand
is no longer grainy snow,
but instead
shines an immaculate glow.
And Her sea
brews with life at every end.
Here, our home,
me and my Leviathan.

I am Brendan Cox and I’m currently a third-year student here at CSUSM pursuing my degree in Literature and Writing Studies. While creative writing hadn’t been my preferred area of the degree, I’ve deeply grown to love it. I’ve always had a passion for writing horror, and I think that reflects in my writing. When I’m not writing I love playing music and expressing myself in any other creative area I can get my hands on.

Vincent A. Bernabeo

The Lake

Pink sky envelops
A moment, caught in time
A monument, from another world

Once a force of destruction
Volcano, deadfall, ash and cinder
Now, a visage of calm

Serene, native plants
Creatures and life in an endless cycle
The skeleton of destruction makes way for inspiration

Nature is calculated in its chaos
The lake, resembling a man…
Pissing…into the wind

Vincent A. Bernabeo is a Literature and Writing student at CSUSM; he has extensively studied literature in both cinema and the written word. Vincent strives to prove that it is never too late in life to pursue one’s dreams to his beautiful wife and three children. He is interested in writing and consuming any and all forms of entertainment, and champions for the literary merit of pop-culture texts. Vincent’s poetry is largely inspired by both his personal experiences and the critical theories he studies at CSUSM; his work often plays with the very concept of language itself to unravel the mysteries that captivate and often subjugate humans all over the world.

Cierra Brooks

Trees and People

I stand tall
While you lean against me

You stand tall
While my legs have failed me

I stand tall
As you should too

You stand tall
As I wish too

I stand tall
But I cannot move

You stand tall
Under the vast blue

I’d offer all I have

Just to save you


Cierra Brooks, while primarily focusing on being a student at California State University San Marcos, has always dreamed of becoming a successful author. No matter where her life has taken her, she has always found time to take pen to paper and express herself creatively. With two poems previously published through Granite Hills 2018 Reflections, she adds another poem to this journal and places a new stepping stone that leads to her ideal future.

Jessica Torres

Nature and Humans 

Free spirits,
yet vastly reliant on one another.
W        e 
take and 
take and 
take
and often forget earth needs from us too.
If only humankind understood, 
that nature also lives through us.
Free spirits, 
bonded by life.
We are here because nature survives.
W        e 
take and 
take and 
take
and often forget nature is quickly dying.
If only humankind understood,
that nature does not have much time.

Free spirits,
but with a broken relationship.
There still is hope to mend the cracks.
We must give
and 
give and 
give
and not forget nature depends on us.

When humankind understands this 
connection nature will thrive,
not just merely survive.

A Celebration

When celebrating my body,
I honor the land of my upbringing
I take pride in the birth land of my parents,
I acknowledge the hard work of my predecessors.

When celebrating my body,
I admire the tongue in which I speak,
I value the traditions I practice
I respect the community in which I live.

But to live in my body also means,
feeling trapped between borders.
To live in my body means,
feeling the world is often against me. 
To live in my body means,
the color of my skin is a dictator
and the tongue in which I speak a commander, 
of my experiences.

When celebrating my body, 
We honor
We take pride 
We acknowledge 
We admire
We value 
We respect
We celebrate,
the heritage and culture of a community.

There is hope or more so a longing
to live in a world where a celebration is not only within, 
but a celebration is with all.

Jessica Torres is a third-year student at CSUSM. She is a Literature and Writing major who hopes to in the future become a teacher. She also has a passion for art and hopes to continue with her art journey incorporating it into her job or career. She loves to read poetry, fantasy, and fiction.

James Mudrak

Stampede Reservoir

another trip
filled with uncertainty and discovery, 
bald eagles soaring in the bluest of skies 
like pebbles thrown across placid lakes, 
wary doe feed along the reservoir bank, 
it amazes me what this world creates 
bringing it into fruition
staring out to a mountain range.

burnt to a crisp as i write this 
the sun and i, you see,
have an interesting relationship, 
should’ve probably put on the sunscreen 
hunched over in the tent thinking
how nature truly 
brings us closer
to what life means: 
being at peace,
loving friends and family, 
understanding yourself, 
and the nature of things.
 
quit being in a rush 
to get stuff done,
leave your phone behind 
stand in the forest 
amongst the trees
let the wind
make your body sway, 
serenity brings solitude 
money can always be made, 
but these moments
we must cherish
as they can never be replaced.

James Mudrak is an aspiring artist, writer, and creator graduating this winter with a BA of Arts in Literature in Writing Studies. He enjoys spending his alone time creating and working on his brand Unify Collective and his other various creative endeavors. To find out more about James, we encourage you to visit his website: unifycollective.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @jamezmudrak.

Cody Hopper

Natures Industry

Your world lies.
Her open arms that offer beauty
Her nature composed of promised 
peace.Does she offer you shelter?
The sublime unbound by limits of 
mindsNo bird can sing her glory
No stream to paint her truth. 
Instead in light and dark we 
wanderJustified in our limited 
passions
Driven by those factors where trees dwell 
not.Do priests consult the dirt to 
forgiveness?
Are our trials heard amongst the weight of 
trees.When the unseen clock flicks its 
pendulum
To and fro, from life to death. 
We are taken back to the 
weeds.
In the guts and grime of the earth 
beneath.The sky is called a final resting place,
Yet the dead are placed underneath.

Cody Hopper is a student at CSUSM, when he isn’t doing improv, or flippin’ za, he can be found in the dark corners of his room, writing the next story of horror and torment that crosses his mindscape. He loves violent stories, comic books, movies, coffee, and buffalo wings– not in this order.

Julieta Enriquez

Unpredicted

When things are not stable

We get scare of failing

Of not knowing the solution to our problems

Most things we are afraid to try

For we don’t know the outcome
 
Most often we are scare of change

For it could be best for us

Or it could hurt us 

The big impact in our lives
 
Is to accept those challenges

No matter how scare we are

We must face them 

To defeat our nightmare

We must run head on

To those changes that are pending

In our lives we must face reality

No matter how scary it gets

There will be a far bright future

In which we no longer would feel scare

That it will be in the past

As part of our growing experience

Fall Romance

We met under a tree

You were running not minding your way

I was looking down at my phone 

To the most recent news of the season

We bump and fall

Down to the crunchy leaves

That had fallen from the tree

We apologize for our mistake

In the same moment we look at each other

Our eyes never leaving each other’s gaze 

We smile a quite simple gesture

I stumble on my words 

Loosing meaning to what I want to say

Feeling silly for acting this way

You help stand up

Holding on to my hand

You offer to walk me 

To my car safely we arrive

We chat for what seems forever

Never wanting to leave each other

At last we make arrangements

To meet back to that tree

Where the leaves have change 

To the many different color 

In which Fall brings when it comes

The wind in which help the leaves

To fall down upon us 

Where we fell in love

White Winter Love

We met through the white cold canvas

Walking down the slippery pavement 

Grabbing onto a white covered tree branch 

Snow falling on top of me

You being ever so gentle 

Helped me up

We met a couple of snowy days 

Drinking hot coco

By the frozen lake

Talking about what a wonderful winter this is 

Cold winter mornings

Became white afternoons 

Time spent with you 

Made me lose track

Just being here with you 

On this cold winter snow

Forever could last for an eternity

Together We Are One

When things get tough 

I know I am not alone 

There are others

Who I can count on

My community comes together
 
In times of need

We as one form an alliance 

Where we gather supplies 

For others to survive

We never leave others by themselves 

In times of need

We ask if help is needed

We give hand when we know we are needed 

We come together as one

In time of need

Holiday Cheers

These days are coming

When we come as one to celebrate joy 

Not a single person is left out

On this joyous holiday

For everyone gets to be a part

Of this fun time to share with others 

For it is a celebration of peace, and joy

Good things are best when share with others 

To feel a part of oneness with others

A time to be part of one big family 

That is what defines community

Julieta Enriquez is a current student at Cal State San Marcos majoring in Literature and Writing. When she was in high school she grew an interest in creative writing because she found it to be helpful in her teenage years it was in high school that she was going through an emotional stage in her life, and writing poetry gave her relief during those difficult times. She was born in Dolores Hidalgo Guanajuato Mexico, she is the youngest of twelve siblings in her family, and she plans to get her masters to teach while she continues writing creative works.

Claudia Cervantes

A Serene Day

Winter is approaching
The leaves say goodbye

One by one they fall only to be greeted by the ground
The breeze is welcomed kissing my cheek

Even with my big puffy jacket I am chilly

My hair is a mess
And my boots are dirty
But I don’t care at the moment

The sound of the waterfall keeps me at peace
I dip my hand into the chilling water

I take in the sight of the beauty that is nature surrounding me

Nature is delicate like a flower
Proper care will keep it blooming

I stand under the tall pine tree
Humming a melodic tune

The birds join in with their own unique sounds

Mother nature is pleased
I am content

Celebrating Death

¡Celebremos! Es Día de Los Muertos

It is a day to remember family and friends who have
 
died A celebration of life and death

It’s the beginning of November, our loved ones await us
The altar is beautiful

There we have abuelito, abuelita, tía Bibiana and primo 

     Cesar The bright orange cempasuchil adorn the shrine

Pan de muerto is placed there along with all their favorite foods

Our family is all together 

We gather around to say a prayer

We share our favorite memories of those who are no longer with 

us Laughter and nostalgia fill the room

We miss them dearly, but we know they are in a better place

Although they are physically gone from this world, we will keep them in our hearts forever



Claudia Cervantes is a senior at CSUSM. She loves to read and write contemporary fiction. When she’s not doing school work or hanging out with friends, you can probably find her baking and binge-watching TV shows.