Welcome to the Fall 2015 issue of Unearthed!
Unearthed is an online literary magazine published by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and run by undergraduate student editors working in collaboration with the Writing Program and ESF Communications staff. The journal focuses on works that define the environment as what Glen Mazis calls “surround”–the natural and social world that species share. We honor the legacy of SUNY-ESF’s original print creative journal, Ecologue and seek to publish work in the genres of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and artwork. We especially encourage works in new media and those that blend genres such as photo and video essays.
Learn more about the editors here.
If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this issue of Unearthed!
Poetry
Emma Aversa: A Sated Soul/Terrance Caviness: Contentment and Tortula Ruralis/ Sarah Tyo: Their Grasses, Their Reasons
Prose
Terrance Caviness: Viridescent Beings/Megan Ewald: Lingering Wires/ Laura Henderson: Handcrafted/ Steph Hichens: The Expedition/ Diana Jagde: In My Wildest Dreams/ Kelly Mascarenhas: Quiet Time/ Colette McDonald: Teach Your Children Well/ Olivia Morris: Horticultural Therapy
Featured image by Unsplash
Lingering Wires
"But she doesn’t lie still, she continues to thrash and moan, spraying blood across the ground and staining the foam at her mouth red."
Handcrafted
"The land didn’t take my grandfather away from me. My grandfather gave his life to taking care of the land and passed this relationship on to each of his grandchildren."
Teach Your Children Well
"Unfortunately, we may have been among the last to feel the earth between our toes, to lie beneath the sun-rayed canopy, and remember to 'be home before dark.'"
Viridescent Beings
"Once you know a space in its intimacy, love is sure to follow. Once a connection is formed with a piece of land, a park, a home, or an entire area, the love that develops will tie a piece of you to that place for your life."
In My Wildest Dreams
"It’s like we are stuck in the passenger seat of a car racing through time and the wheel is just out of reach. We are powerless, yet we can do anything. Be anyone. Go anywhere."
Contentment
I am content to know/ The protecting embrace of a maple/ Shielding me/ From harsh January winds/
A Sated Soul
Were I born with paws,/ would my footsteps move less earth?/ Were I covered in fur,/ would cotton stay bound to its burrs?/
The Expedition
"The astronomer had calculated where the planet we were looking for would lay: the “Goldilocks” zone, where the star’s heat would neither be so close that the planet’s water would boil nor so far that it would freeze—the temperature at which life was likely to form."
Quiet Time
"For my family, the best style of camping is the quiet kind. We hike up the forested hills seeking nothing but the songs of birds and the whisper of leaves."
Horticultural Therapy
"Succulents are easy to plant and care for, flowers are vibrantly colored and odorous, herbs smell strongly and also provide nutrition."
Tortula Ruralis
Each pellucid drop glides down the awns/ and nestles between the verdant folds./ The small green leaves and drop embrace,/ To uncurl with the morning dew./
Their Grasses, Their Reasons
Dawn breaks along with/ the farmer’s spirit./ He rises/ just to kneel down in prayer./