F O R C E S 2 O 1 8 8 1 O 2 S E C R O F 11657-18PB Cover image by Catherine Chong, ARCHITECTURE I N T R O D U C T I O N FORCES 2O18 Collin College, in its continual move forward with the farsighted vision of serving Collin County with the expansion of buildings and new sites has also expanded capabilities for publication and insured permanence of the legacy of Forces: Literary Journal of the Arts. A bold move was made to become digitally permanent with all issues from the first to the present–29 years of Forces–to become permanently available to view and download worldwide through the portal of digitalcommons. Case in point, a student who visited his family in Vietnam for the first time in his adult life recorded the event in photos; then, he submitted those photos which were selected and now have been downloaded from his family and friends half a world away. What a gift of permanence and a reminder of how we are all connected. The new system also allowed all submissions to be entered digitally and has basically made the menial task of physically snail-mailing – and the editors reading and filing all the entries – a thing of the past. It has not been without its glitches and newness is always – well, new. However, all in all the transition was a smooth one. One last change was to completely give over the selection process to the student editors who have walked the journal completely through the process, from the call for submissions, to selection, to acceptance/rejection notification, to proofing, to print: this is an opportunity rarely afforded any student population at any college. I would like to thank the Board of Trustees for their continuing support of the journal, the President of Collin College, Dr. Neil Matkin, the unwavering work of Mindy Tomlin-Paulson and Rachel Walker, student editors Mathew Vondersaar, Tiffany Page, John Achomuma, Annie Ellison, Starlit D. S. Taie, Bridget Scott-Schupe, Allison Graham, and Trexia Joy Asiel Hernandez. Also, special thanks to the Writer’s Bloc with the selection of their Best of Journal recognition and their sponsor, Sean Ferrier- Watson. And finally, the PR staff Marlene Miller, Donna Kinder, and Heather Darrow, for their direction and support. Please support us in our upcoming 30th Anniversary Issue next spring. Submissions will be accepted through Oct. 30th 2018. FORCES Editor – R. Scott Yarbrough UNTITLED David Goldenberg Cover image by Catherine Chong, ARCHITECTURE C O N T E N T S 1 12 18 WHERE INTRODUCTION DENOUEMENT R. Scott Yarbrough DID THEY GO? Meredith P. Embry Daniel L. Hawkins UNTITLED 19 CELLY HARD, BOYS David Goldenberg HORROR Jessica Meyer OF MY LIFE 5 5 Trishal Varma 13 TEA TIME SPONTANEOUS Yipeng Lin GENERATION 20 D. Knape EN PASSANT 6 Meredith P. Embry STILL LIFE TRIPTYCH REFLECTION Lydia Pyla Maryanne Zamora 21 SALT “ODE TO A PUMPKIN SPICE Molly Brown 16 MOCKINGBIRD” AND TWO THINGS ©2014 NICE 22 Deborah Anderson Jessica K. Flora HALL OF HEROES 14 Corey Hinds 7 ROCKY MOUNTAIN JESSE NATIONAL PARK, 23 Beth Ayers SPRING BUTTERFLIES Jiafeng Lan Caroline Dillard AUTUMN IN TEXAS 24 Anna Boling 15 24 NEVER OPEN DOORS 8 A PALE PLACE Hayley Earnest FAITH Arianna McDonald Alberto Gutierrez 25 THE JOURNEY TO COLORADO FORGOTTEN… 9 Nat Chittamai Tara Tompson SCAPEGOAT Andrew Barba 16 ON THE 38 DIANA RIGHT TRACK 10-11 Virginia Owen Teighior Stegman IT HAPPENS IN SEASONS 17 26 Anna Boling MY ANYWHERE IS A GRANDMOTHER GOOD PICTURE 11 Jiaan Powers Catherine Chong RED ROCKS MR. DARCY AMPHITHEATRE STATIC STATE— 49 Jiafeng Lan PONDERS For Elijah Dallie Clark Amy Weilert 4 FORCES 2O18 27 33 40 50 TIME NIGHTMARISH BIRD IN THE LA CATRINA Alberto Gutierrez DREAM MOUNTAINS Alberto Gutierrez Allison Graham Hayley Earnest BALANCE 51-52 Sydney F. Sokora THE LADDER INTO 41-45 ARMINA THE CAVE LOVE IS Bridget N. 28-29 Hayley Earnest A REBEL BIRD Scott-Shupe COMMUNION John Achomuma Ann Marie Newman 34 52 KATIE 42 BOWLS, CUPS AND BUBBLE Gilbert Hu GREEN WITH IT, UNIDENTIFIABLE Amanullah Kahn APATHY, BAD OBJECTS 35 CONSCIENCE Chisom L. Ogoke 29 SISTERS Anna Boling BEHIND April Boyd 53 EVERY LEAF 44 ARCHITECTURE Chisom L. Ogoke 36 TRISHA Catherine Chong THERE’S A Gilbert Hu FUN IN THE SCREAM INSIDE 54 BOTANICAL WE ALL 45 EVIDENCE OF LOVE GARDEN TRY TO HIDE 1 EXPOSED, 2, 4 Junxiang Yang Gilbert Hu Brandy L. Anderson Michael Nguyen 55-56 30 37-38 46 LOVE: FULL OF HOPE, ALL THAT BUBBLES THE VILLAIN OF OUT OF GAS GLITTERS, Victoria Jones THE STORY Meredith P. Embry PROBABLY Mathew R. KILLED HIM PANIC 47-48 Vondersaar Trexia Joy Asiel Tiffany Page THE SHIP Hernandez ON THAT DAY 56 31 Starlit D. S. Taie LIGHT GHOST 38 Kateri Whitfield POTTY TIME THERE’S A 47 SCREAM INSIDE FORM VS. MUSE, THE CONURE WE ALL TRY CONTENT Dalton Wright TO HIDE 4, 7, 8 Susan Maxwell Brandy L. Anderson Campbell 48 39 UNTITLED 32 David Goldenberg BULL’S A CROSSING MACHINE SHOP Jiafeng Lan Josh Jalowiec 49 THE JOYS OF 53 NIGHTSCAPES Maryanne Zamora 5 Collin College is an equal opportunity institution and provides educational and employment opportunities without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status or other legally protected class. F O R C E S is an annual student publication sponsored by the Communication and Humanities and Fine Art Divisions of Collin College. First rights revert back to the author after publication. 6 FORCES 2O18 TEA TIME Yipeng Lin 7 REFLECTIONS Lydia Pyla “ODE TO A MOCKINGBIRD” ©2014 Deborah Anderson Feathers strewn across the lawn, Perhaps the ubiquitous red squirrel was involved? she went hunting at dusk . . . or dawn. This mystery may never be solved. Long feathers fallen, striped grey, white and black; Striking was this Mockingbird, and ever will be. this one was brutally attacked. Her songs live on in others I see. Tiny sweet feathers clumped into balls, Whenever I hear an elegant mockingbird’s songs, there was no body left at all. please . . . don’t say a word. Was it the orange-striped cat with pouncing white paws, Just listen . . . as I am smitten, or the black alley stray, with its razor claws? as she lifts her head to the sun. I imagine feathers flying in the air, Her graceful life has while cat licked her chops with tiger-like flair. just begun. 8 FORCES 2O18 JESSE Beth Ayers I like to think the best, Before he became a warrior. To listen to those who call him Before peer pressure and the desire to survive Robin Hood of the West Turned the boy into the man and Those who say he robbed from the rich Reconstruction turned the man into the outlaw And gave to the poor… and he did… sometimes, Who robbed from the rich. Those times when he knew who he was But I like to think the best Knew where he came from. Because my great-grandmother was a James Could he recall his father preaching And some small part of the recipe for who I am Bible in hand? For the blood that flows through my veins Hear his mother’s gentle voice? Showing where I come from, Before he was sixteen. I share with Jesse. AUTUMN IN TEXAS Anna Boling 9 FAITH Alberto Gutierrez 10