Table Of ContentArckmm
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
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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 peo-
ple 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
