Table Of ContentAcknowledgements
The staffofthe Seferwould like to express
their gratitude for the help, sponsorship, and
assistance ofthe following people and organi-
zations:
The English Department, especially:
Dr. Nancy Barendse
Dr. Scott Yarbrough
and
Sigma Tau Delta and
The Literary Society
Sefer
2005
According totheAnalyticalConcordancetotheBible, theword
"Seferistaken from theHebrewand means"workofwriting"or
"book."
TheSEFERiswritten, edited, and produced bystudentsofCharleston
Southern University. Theviewsexpressedwithin donotnecessarily
expressthe viewsofCharleston Southern University'sAdministration,
Faculty, Staff, orgeneral studentbody.
^XaSCeofContents
SouthCarolinaSeptember, ClaireBaker 3
RememberingPuertoRico,JonathanTorres 4
Falling, E.AshleyGlenn 5
iiitzdull, vxiiri5)Ujpiicrricbiiiiidii 0
nisn,nemies, jason rry 7
7lriizm5LTiiirytihifL"o/~i\tli "itihsmycTinr\yneoor\jTitiri\*fz>nori\Y%tir7zro\~nn, Rr>niiodini"nWiullni 00
illUlU. Jr\lLllUJU.yZ>, WillIVlCCillllUl1ay 9
cA\lJl-IO/u~\biticZo,OCdolradrA\lt*Itvlilcdll'lT'U/^Unga 10
iviuriiiiiy, i^duicii ivuueribuii 11
'iTlriieorI^usirTu*fo~iis~i\Ti, iviicpihiiineTr)/o-^iuinr"\u/n 12
ABlackMomma toHerChild, ShaquanaGrant 14
rimnsLtipa, d./\Miicy vjieim *5
Photo: TheHenry TimrodLibrary, KatieE. Lee lo
PorchRockerMemoirs "(AHistoryof
theHenry TimrodLibrary), KatieE. Lee 17
TheMustang, LaurenRobertson 22
Spent, TabathaBlevins 23
Anon, Linda Lemacks 24
ALoneRower, JasonFry 20
Anticipation, E.AshleyGlenn 27
RobertFordham, BrianHull 29
rnoio. Killing iime, jvaiieil. i^ee 31
TheFool, LaurenRobertson 32
DIU.L-KUIILib, V_/lallCDdKcI
KsUllLfiljllliy, JLcbaUUIlllaUIl 34
ThpMndpm Wnnkn l.ni)PSnnnnf
S.G.Prufrock, ShaquanaGrant 36
TonkaBrown, BrianGullberg 37
Inevitable, E.AshleyGlenn 39
Passing Time, ClaireBaker 40
TheMirror, Lauren Robertson 41
DreamingofLongIsland,JohnDinkelmeyer 42
Gone, E.AshleyGlenn 44
410FaulknerStreet, ClaireBaker 45
2
South Carolina September
The road iswindingright outinfront
as green goldleaves frombranches dip andsway
alongthe pavement.
Shadows lengthen, days shorten, and
myminddrifts —
winding,
tumbling,
up anddown.
Thebeginningoftheroadseemed
as ifitwere straighterandclearer.
Summerletthecares driftto sleep
on a hammockblowing in thebreeze
between an oakand abirch
allsilverin thesunshine,
likea newborn offeringher
lastyawn ofalullaby.
Thosesame goldgreenleaves
willsoon abandontheirhome,
fallto theground andcrackle
beneath myfeet.
-Cfatre(Ba^er
3
Remembering Puerto Rico
We startwalkingtoAbuela's house
just as the sun isbeginningto set.
The humid airbegins to cool down, and
Iclose myeyestobask
in theatmosphere.
Onebyone, the coquisbegin to chirp,
seemingto singtothe rhythmthatwewalkto.
Thestreets smelllikegarbage,
but no one seems to notice anymore.
We pass a group ofold men sittingon a porch,
playingagameofdominoes.
The houses allhave iron gates,
andwe rattlethem aswewalkby.
Aloudtruckpasses us,
blaringsome old salsa music.
Thetrees that hangoverthe sidewalk
blockourpath
andwewalkacross thelittered street.
Somekids are playingbarefoot inthestreet
andwestop fora momenttowatchtheirgame.
WewavetoAbuela's neighbors, who are havinga party,
andwecalltoAbuela
to open thegateforus.
She opens it and invites us in
fordinner-Iloveherarroz con polio.
The cold airconditioningblows on ourfaces
as wewalkinthe house.
Andwe closethe doorbehindus.
-Jonathan Torres
4
Falling
Thecold morningbeats herfacelike abroom.
Lighttouchprecedingthe stingingsensation,
Sweeping herto a worldbeyondherown.
The autumnwindspins herhairlike awheel.
Carelesslocks embracingthe affectionatebreeze,
Driving her to aplacerecognizedonly in dreams.
The deadleaves wakeherlike abell.
Noisyashesburntbythis fierylife,
Ringingthetruthwithin hersmotheredspirit....
Nothingcan takeyou awayexceptyourself.
~<E.flshCey Qtenn
The Sun
Ohto touchwhatyou have touched
Orto seewhatyou haveseen.
To lightthefaceofHelen,
Orto grasptherestless sea.
To shine asbrightwith passion
Orto paintthe skyasyou,
Burningthecloudsbrilliant shades
Ofreds, oranges andyellows.
To guardthegates ofParadise
Andtobaskin Heaven's glory
And rain radiantbeams oflove
Downthatvanquish ourgloom andshadows.
Forwithoutyourwarmthfrom above,
Ourlives are shadowedin night.
Yet asyourbeacon shines wewillknow
You have risen andblessed uswitha newday.
-ChristopherFreshman
6
His Enemies
Theseflames thatdrown us and
Thesewaters thatburn us and
Thesethings that aren'thereand
Thosethings thatare—
Weare nolongerenemies and
Alwayswere and
Yetsomehowalways
Willbe.
Likea patchof
SnowinAugust
Amidst February
Grass as green in May,
We
are a quilt—
Aquilt ofthings-
Things Ido notwantto do and
Notthings Idowantto do.
Ourenmityought notbe and
This is a poem of
Ought notsand
Alwayswills and
Nevershould'ves and
Are nolongers,
Andthosethings and
Thesethings and
Theseflames and
Thesewaters and
Theseought nots
Areus.
Iamanought not;
Iam a PaulofSaul.
-Jason Try
7
The Lightonthe Edge ofthe Horizon
(BrianMutt
Neither of them said anything as they walked
down the road that crossed the train tracks. They were si-
lent not because they thought about it but because they
didn't. If one of them had thought about it they would
have had to say something to cover the awkward silence,
but because neither of them did, the silence was comfort-
able and sweet.
It wasn't until days laterthat it occurred to him to re-
member that horrible day when his friend lost both the
woman that mattered in his life and the sick smell ofover-
turned train cars in midtown. And when he remembered
to think about it he was amazed that anyone could still
walk down that street squinting into the sun, and not say
anything.
8
