Art And Design High School - Prism Yearbook (New York, NY)

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CHARACTERIZATIONS SAINT FRANCIS FED THE SQUIRRELS We had taken a walk through Central Park that day. There was nothing unusual about it all, the strike was on and the three of us, Laura, Leona and I, had come there to nibble on fresh bologna sandwiches. We washed them down with thin orange drink that we had bought from a vendor. I can't remember whether we had ridden the carousel that day, but on other days during the time we were out of school, I became quite familiar with itg her old pumping, grinding giant music box filling the air with circus tunes. If I was lucky, they would play 'A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN' and then I could sing along with it. We had made our way leisurely from the carousel to the zoo, and turned the winding, sun- drenched road around the red brick building planted in the heart of the zoo. As we turned the corner, I saw a little man standing by the entrance to the children's zoo. In his right hand, he held a bag of peanuts. His left arm was raised and crooked half way in front of him and perched on his forearm sat a squirrel, busily chewing the peanuts as fast as the little man could draw them from the bag. I stopped my two companions, and we stood watching the little man. His face was plain, his clothes. non-exceptional. He resembled no less than a dozen men you could see every day in a subway, street or bus. But his face was very calm and quiet and he neither laughed nor frowned, coaxed nor teased the little animal that sat clinging to his arm. Patiently, he drew the peanuts, one at a timep sometimes breaking them, sometimes leav- ing it to the squirrel to do. The little rodent iumped back and forth from a litter basket to the grass and back again to his arm. Children who passed into the zoo with their parents, stood and gaped at himg the children shrieking wildly, the parent's eyes wide, their faces, with beaming smiles. The little man didn't seem to notice. He seemed oblivious to the fact that there were other people in the park. He was totally absorbed in keeping his little friend well fed. What other friends does he have?I thought. Was he a soldier in World War One? Did he drink warm English beer in musty old pubs and make love with the village girls? Was he a sailor? Was he disabled one night in an enemy attack and have to be shipped back to the States? I noticed he wore a hearing aid. I wondered if he wore a red poppy on Armistice Day. But most of all, I wondered if the only friends he had in the world were the frisky squirrels that scampered at his feet. I had friends. There had been many times when I couldn't say that I could reach out and grasp someone's hand. I knew people who never let themselves reach out. They offer their hands saying, 'Here I am if you ever need a quick lift up... but don't grasp it too tightly, and don't pull me down with you. l'll know you, but l'll never be obligated to you, and then you can never hurt me. You see, I want the world to think I'm strong, then they won't question me. But you'll never know me and l'll never feel for you and l'll never be hurt.' I thought about it. I wasn't one of these people. I gave myself too quickly. It is a well known fact to me, as well as to those who know me, that after being with a person five minutes, I grow very 'attached to him. My fondest aim in life is to gather people to me. People are the life source of creativity in me. It could never spring to life by itself. People are what keep me going. Friendship is the common denominator in everything I strive for: To please people, to make them laugh when no one else can, to put them at ease in time of trouble, and most of all, to form lasting friendships that can survive. I knew I would always be hurt because I gave too much of myself. I knew I was the type of person that would say, 'Here is my hand: take it if you need help.

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TRUTH I want so much to be understood and ac- cepted: to be able to reach out and have you realize what an infinite amount of beauty there is in the truth. You used to be truth itself-so brave, and fearlessly strong, and so beautiful. It was as if you were a flower, with your stem growing straight, and your petals so honestly outstretched, fully understanding the hardship of rain, but real- izing the beauty of the fresh air after the storm. There is so much hurt, and pain, compas- sion, and strength, in the truth. You were truth. You stood with your head held high, meeting the future with no defenses raised. Your mouth was partly open, in contemplation of a beautiful thing, like two sores burning, pressed together, begging to be pulled apart. You understood life, and were willing to stand tall through its ups and downs. Your eyes were constantly open, as if you were a watchdog, always ready to protect his master. Your master was the truth. Without even knowing you, a person could tell how beautiful you were. Was it the way you stood, so open and forthright, or the way you walked, reaching the corner as quickly as the man who had to run? Perhaps it was the firm, con- fident, and yet tender way in which you looked at a person-a look of deep understanding. Why did you ever begin to run, and cut corners, and not think of the other person? When did you begin to lie and put an outer covering around yourself, so that no pain could reach you? Didn't you see that that shield blocked beauty too? When did you lose your depth, and iust be- come a flat surface painted a pretty color? Wasn't it obvious that the paint would soon start to chip and ugliness would begin to show through. I want to be understood, and I want to be accepted, but neither is important, for now I am the truth. SELF 342 I have danced myself invaded with feelings Dancing so fast, l cannot feel. To reassure a soul: A self, is to man As blood is to a forest, Or a bleeding heart, Carried by the wind Upon a leaf. I never stop to rest, Nor does the sky, Nor the earth For one robin said the earth was round. The spark of madness Swept inside of me, lvvlga A current of unfound lj y identity. Q g . o ' o To Search an infinite mindg N 9 U ., A self is to man Q' As the earth is to a lonesome tree Q O O How a bleeding heart carried by 4 the wind Q ls soothed to safety if o Q Upon a leaf! y 9 CLAUDIA SCHWALB N -'7 2. 'P . 'a n ll , NN . ,I lb f5 , . fi I t- at N Q ' M ., l gi 9' X if eg JO AMY SCHULMAN , QI lx It '41, y ll. 0 lflx W2 I FK 1 f N A ' , 1: A ,S L5 H o CLAUDIA' SFHWA N I ' lf' - 1 A A --:tp is li 'll ' 1533641 2 . ' ' '- ..Q'-505 ' ' 1 ' . ms I 4.51. ull V . 6a 44.5 K U N 2 '

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I don't mind helping you. And if I am ever hurt, I will be sorry, but I will be a little bit better and a little bit wiser for knowing you.' I could never be sorry for making relation- ships a foremost thing in my life. I love harmony. My creativity needed god-parents. I knew that no matter how many hurts should spring up, there would always be too many good friendships to counteract them. I was still staring at the little man. He moved unconsciously, except for his eyes. They were alive with the knowledge that these ani- mals needed him, looked forward to what must be his daily coming, and the friendly gesture he made with his arm to beckon them to dinner. Suddenly, I wanted more than anything else to cry. I wanted to take the little man and never let anyone laugh at him or stare at him or hurt his precious squirrels. I wanted his placid face to break in a thousand grey old lines and a thousand tears to flow down the square planes of his face: Whether for ioy or sorrow or both, I don't know. I wanted to cry out: 'Cry Little Manl Never mind the rest of the worldl Cry, cry, Little Manl Feed your little ani- mals, St. Francisl Feed your friendsl Feed your damned lice and flea infested squirrels with their dirty feet and rat-matted fur and pus-streaked eyesl Feed your friends, for God's sake St. Francisl Love them and feed them and cryl Oh please cry, my Little Manl And thank God that there's a park for you to walk in and tiny animals to bestow your love uponl Who would think, Little Man, that you could love! Have a good cry St. Francis. No one will see you. They're too busy looking at them- selvesl Get yourself stoned St. Francis! Who would think that you could love...' A very slight smile, so faint it was almost unnoticeable, slipped across his face as the squirrel plucked another nut from his fingers. I let out a gasp and dove into my pocket- book, crammed with iunk. Pulling out a pad, I scribbled as I said out loud, Saint Francis fed the squirrels. Both Laura and Leona looked at each other and smiled a somewhat knowing smile. I want to write a story about him, I said, He's like something from another era. We left the park laughing. Fool that I aml I am the little man and the squirrels, and the people that watch himl I can't help hoping he won't die iust yet. When he does, I hope he dies in his sleep. ADELE GERAGHTY LEMMING - MY MOTHER Lemmings are small, attractive rodent- like creatures who inhabit the Arctic Tundra re- gion. They are nomadic animals who travel end- Iessly in search for food. Rather than change their course, bands of Iemmings have been known to swim across rivers, where more than half drown. No barriers can hinder their progress because of their great determination to move on. They are famous for their quixotic courage, demonstrated in their willingness to fight for their young. Unfortunately, large predators find the brave lemming easy game. I know only one person who possesses the virtues of this animal. She has searched endlessly for the food called kindness and understanding, and she still searches, finding only enough crumbs to keep her from dying of starvation. Mountains of apathy, rivers of fear and deserts of hopeless- ness confronted her in her iourneys, but in her desperation, she managed to move on. When she thought she had found her sustenance, a gro- tesque animal called CRUELTY chased her away from happiness, devouring her spirit again and again, until almost all her willingness to live had been ingested into its black interior. Unceasingly, she searched, being led into spider webs of pain, hypnotized into security, then being allowed to fall into a pit of reality by the sneering laugh of deception. The little progress she had made in life had been envied by other Iemmings who con- spired to stop her from gaining any more. They bit her and clawed at her soul until blood and tears drenched her shabby gray rags. One reason for existence then saved her from dying. She sheltered it, nursed it and made it grow. Only then was she able to seem complete. But is she complete? Even now I sense that she searches for food. Will she regain what she has unwillingly lost, or has half of her drowned in the seas of her past? ROXANNE RIVERA