
Arcade of Life
An ode to southern Germany and my cousin, Marlene.
Madeline Berberian-Hutchinson is a junior at Stuyvesant High School. She is an artist and a writer. She loves her sister more than anything in the universe.
Hilma Af Klint, Alice Neel, Mary Cassatt
As a writer, I focus heavily on describing objects and using them as a facade for more complex ideas or emotions. I enjoy reflecting on the effects of nostalgia on my life. The poems I wrote this year have responded to my qualms about growing older and change. Not only have I grown as a person, but my writing and repertoire of vocabulary have grown tremendously. With the aid of my mentor, I have finally discovered the succinct poetic voice that I have been searching for.
An ode to southern Germany and my cousin, Marlene.
The captain signaled to shore, “We need fresh water” and the shore signaled back, “Lower your buckets where you are.”
This piece was selected as an Honorable Mention in the First Chapters Contest, hosted in partnership with Penguin Random House and Electric Lit. This piece is intended to be the first chapter of a larger, semi autobiographical body of work that essentially criticizes the archetypes of men that have frustrated me throughout my life.
1. Hold the extinguisher with the nozzle pointing away from you. 2. Aim low. Point the extinguisher at the base of the fire. 3. Squeeze the lever slowly. 4. Sweep the nozzle from side-to-side.