Homunculus
by JOHN CENTILLE | 3rd Place, student poetry contest
his pen, dripping extracts from a dozen vials
looks as real as the sword.
can present an instance as cutting
as its happening thanks to this assemblage
squeezed out from tomes, lives unlived
inside the study, a tepid gray.
look inside the latticed windows
and see the shadowed figure of a creature
creating from a source of life
he is not permitted to draw on
instead, throws out sheets of manuscripts,
commentaries, clever from a high perch
entirely unlike an everlasting scream
as no one ever sees the original pages
smeared nigh illegible.
and still truth seekers, undiscerning readers
dare to call his works plastic
a synthetic born from mere imagination
like a diamond’s authenticity could be determined
from a once chanced glance.
Tear him from his cage,
find your forged feelings to the letter
but do this and be prepared to look inside
his white spiderweb eyes that ask
what lies lie therein of human aspiratory lust
of self-taught strikers and world-worn genius
over that of the homunculus?
Ω
John Centille recently graduated from TCC with an AA in English. His favorite hobbies include breezing through manga, writing stories, and studying Japanese. He hopes to even do more of everything at NSU, but writing the most!
Jonathan Borthwick, a British-born cartoonist residing in Houston, Texas, is entirely self-taught. His cartoons primarily delve into the political and social dynamics of the United States in recent years. They strive to encapsulate a culture that feels foreign to him, employing a satirical style reminiscent of the popular UK cartoons of the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.