The Siren ART S M AG A Z I NE

Hello Southwest Students! We’re the Siren!

The Siren is the student-run literary arts magazine at Southwest High School. No, don’t worry; nobody on The Siren will roll their eyes at you if you
ask, “What even is a literary arts magazine?”

We get it. The term ‘literary arts’ probably isn’t your everyday lingo.

Literary arts magazines are publishing platforms for creative writers and visual artists. The Siren was created to celebrate artists at Southwest by pro-
viding a formal medium to represent their work alongside the work of their peers. At The Siren, we believe that inspiring each other in our creativity
and raising each other up as young adults is both powerful and necessary.

The Deadline to Submit to the Siren Spring Edition is April 15th

The Siren is currently accepting submissions of visual art and writing for its annual spring publication. Submission categories include fiction, nonfic-
tion, poetry, paintings, illustrations, photography, and digital art. The editors on the Siren understand that not all submitted works will fall neatly into
these categories, and they encourage students to simply submit any works that can be printed onto the pages of a magazine.

Ready to submit to the Siren? Here are the two things you should do (in order)!

1. Read our submission guidelines on our fabulous Weebly website.

- https://swsiren.weebly.com/submission-guidelines.html
2. Send us your submission email!
- To southwestsiren@gmail.com
P.S. We really want you to follow our instagram. We’re so cool - we promise!
- @southwest.siren

Interested in joining the Siren? Yay! We’re so excited!

Untitled
By Anonymous
photography
 The Boy on the Train
By Emily Hedrick

The train was rumbling down the track. Sometimes it sped up, sometimes it slowed down, sometimes it went through tunnels, and sometimes
it moved in a more serpentine way than I expected.
Never before had I been on such an unpredictable train ride on such an unpredictable railroad. The train seemed to have a consciousness of its
own at times, as well as a different perception of time. It had the ability to cover impossible ground in the blink of an eye, regardless of its actual speed.
As you looked out the window you saw landscapes that should not have been present on the route that had been planned out. There were places that
I’d never been. I was certain of that. The people I saw spread out among said landscapes, however, summoned the hidden memories that had been
carefully stored in a top secret file cabinet in the back of my mind. How extremely suspicious.
The other passengers seemed blissfully unaware of the unexpected movements of both train and countryside. They were also painfully oblivi-
ous to the fact that the food that was being served to us was an exact replica of a certain less than delicious airline meal. I could taste how disgusting it
was without putting it in my mouth.
What a strange little trip. I thought to myself. In all honesty, I wasn’t sure how to feel about all of this. Not until things went wrong, that is.
Suddenly, the sky darkened slightly and the train lurched sideways. Despite the fact that I was nowhere near the doors, I found myself outside
the train, running to keep up with it. Why it had thrown me out, I had no idea. Even stranger was the fact that there was no human-shaped whole
where I had been expelled from the train. How did it happen?
Anyway, I was running as fast as I could to keep up with it. The more train cars that passed me by, the more desperate I became. I knew that I
had to catch up, or else...what? I didn’t know, but I knew that being left behind was not an option.
Then suddenly, I heard someone call my name from somewhere behind me. Still running, I looked over my shoulder, and I saw him.
He was framed in his train car’s open doorway. He looked spectral and out of place, but he was real, from his haircut to his shoes, and no one
else had a voice like that. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was really him. He was here, even though he couldn’t have been.
He called my name again, though his expression and tone of voice didn’t change. He beckoned for me to come over. Then I realized what was
going on. He was communicating that there was an open door through which I could get back on the train. He was trying to help me.
I turned around and ran toward it. He held out his hand. I got one foot inside the train and grabbed a handle by the door. The boy grabbed my
other hand and pulled me inside. His hand felt so substantial, and his touch so real, though it couldn’t have been.
I thanked him quickly and ran down the aisle, though I’m not sure why. I ran through car after car until I reached the front once again and
returned to my seat, though I made sure to stay more alert after that. I now understood that I had to hold on tight at all costs.

Untitled
By Lola Yost
photography

Birchbark Design
By Saheli Patel
Adobe Illustrator

Untitled
By Lola Yost
photography
Stretch Marks the headache
By Jadyn Breitenbach By Maddie Tatum

the tiger stripes left on the curves of human bodies i put my earbuds in
read like a map because i’m afraid
to show you where somebody’s been. of being alone
with myself
shrinkingstomachs
widening butts with nothing but
GROWING CHESTS the sounds
stretching backs from inside my head
are just some of the places where you can find these curvy markings, eyes closed
each different than the one that came before. volume up
each another page to the story to how a body’s grown,
into the body it has become. i waste time thinking about
wasting time
the BILLBOARD hanging on 58th street, things that
claims stripes are not a sight wanted to be seen, haven’t happened yet
“Because they’re not in magazines, keep me up at night
they should be scrubbed off with this cream!”
but why should I hide that i’m a growing/changing being? i’m too tired
to think right now
caterpillars grow into butterflies. i’ll start my life
one seed turns into a ten foot tree. sometime
an egg hatches into a sea turtle. tomorrow
and i’m slowing turning into me.
skip
living beings grow next song
bodies have been changing since the caveman time. need some
tiger stripes are completely normal, advil
and there is beauty in for this headache

the heart’s journey She is Burning

By Maddie Tatum By Eliza Broan

beautiful eyes The truth is that our planet is burning.

stare and Obliviousness is our nemesis,
connect So we’re protesting to share our learning.
With war against Earth, we are pacifists.
this is when
the heart begins CO2 emissions are in the air,
it’s journey to the feet Trash sitting on the ground disregarded.
The climate is changing, how is it fair
swallow hard That our mother is being bombarded?
summer tastes sweet
it takes you back Planet Earth, the source of all our beauty,
Is pleading for us to suture the scar.
to when It’s true that sparking change is our duty
every hour Before the damage done will go too far.
seemed golden
Her splendor exploited, lands now bereft.
she is Save our mother now, before nothing’s left.

completely and utterly

overwhelmed with him
maybe she wouldn’t mind

feeling this way forever

thinking ahead
shot in the dark By Maddie Tatum
By Maddie Tatum
i wish i could
taking a shot in the dark bundle them up in a package
doesn’t mean anything savor my dreams
but you never know until i can make them reality
just what could come not to let them spoil
from picking up the gun in someone else’s company
and taking your aim
The Weary Angel
By Suzi Ann
Ibis Paint X
 Farhana Untitled
By Eliza Broan By Lilah Kyllonen
Acrylic Notan Paper Cut

Spider Light
By Meredith Smith
photography

“Every-time I see this picture I think about nature, how amazing

each and every creature is and how we need to embrace it while we
have it. Nature is amazing if you just look around, look at things you
see everyday but look closer and I am sure you will see art.”
- Meredith Smith

Untitled
Anonymous
Photography
The Siren Bios
Sonia Carroll
Sonia is the senior leader of the Siren. In her
free time, she enjoys writing, frolicking in flow-
ery meadows, and jamming out to loud music
when no one is watching. Her current favorite
book is All the Light We Cannot See by An-
othony Doerr, and her favorite childhood story
was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi
Barrett.
Annabelle Hendrickson
Annabelle is a senior and enjoys horseback
riding, reading, cooking, and photogra-
phy. Her love for art and literature is what
led her to join the Siren team. Some of her
favorite artists include Ansel Adams and
Georgia O’Keeffe, and the last book she
read was Donald Payne’s Walkabout.
Avery Taylor
Avery is a senior who likes to say she’s
on top of her stuff, but she’s probably
just on her phone. She lives off of
grilled cheese and clif bars, and she is
a book nerd who’s super picky about
books (ironic, right?). Her favorite
books are Harry Potter and The Girl
on the Train.
Willie Funk
Willie is a senior who loves reading short
stories, playing Dungeons and Dragons,
and joking around with puns.
Rory Madden
Rory is the junior leader of the Siren.
She is a proud choir kid and she loves
to listen to music. She joined the Siren
because she thought it was a great way
to show how much talent Southwest’s
students have. She is a big fan of the
Harry Potter series.
Harris Coller
Harris is a junior and enjoys music,
video games, and trying new hobbies.
A book that inspires him is Fully Auto-
mates Luxury Communism by Aaron
Bastani.
Jackalyn Wyrobek
Jackalyn is a senior who likes to
paint, write, and take pictures. She
enjoys the reviewing process at the
Siren and getting to help compile
the diverse variety of artwork
produced by Southwest students.
Her favorite magazine to read is
National Geographic.
Eliza Brindley
Eliza is enjoying her second year
on the Siren. Her hobbies in-
clude falling asleep everywhere
and making her ballet teacher
contemplate retirement (usually
not at the same time). Eliza loves
novels and has read the Harry
Potter series 14 times.
La Chaise
Maddie Tatum
Acrylic on Wood
“This chair was inspired by the french
fauvist Henri Matisse. I worked off of
three different paintings of his learn-
ing how to see the world through his
eyes. Some of my favorite quotes from
him are written on the chair, in hopes
that whoever sits down will be in-
spired to find the beauty in everything
like Matisse did. “ -Maddie Tatum
Please come find me!
(matisse chair located somewhere
spontaneous in spano’s classroom)