Author Archives: theatala

Abby Santos is finishing her junior year at Pembroke Pines Charter High School. Although she has always taken traditional art classes, for the past two years she’s been into graphic design and loves it! Abby is currently taking Digital Design and is interested in pursuing a career in the digital world of communications, specifically inContinue reading “Fall Editorial”

A Sestina is a French form consisting of six six-line stanzas and a three-line envoy. The final words of each line repeat in a different but predetermined sequence in each stanza. Hunter, forged from pools of hellfire, carrying your quiver.Wood and grass and water land and fall at your feetAs you pass through the valley.Continue reading “The Huntsman”

My mother was downstairs. It wasn’t my mother. I knew it wasn’t my mother because I heard no door open, no locks click, no windows rattle as they always did when my mother slammed the door a little too hard. But I heard her footsteps on the linoleum floor, on the crevices that were cakedContinue reading “The Game”

Andria Subhit loves literature and art, and although she is experienced with various mediums, she primarily creates digital art. This piece, “Imago,” is a visualization of metamorphosis and change. Another piece of Andria’s digital art is featured on the cover of this issue of the atala, as well as within our Spring 2022 issue.

Corene Scotland won first place for her performance of this poem in the Spoken Word category of the 2022-23 Broward County Literary Fair. Please click here to view a recording of her performance! When I decided to write this spoken word, My thoughts were As dormant as on an exam day. The result: Essays withContinue reading “The Unspoken Words”

Pressing a piece of graphite onto the paper, I start with the hardest part of the drawing: the composition. The overwhelming part of the task is coming up with a representation of what I want to convey to the viewer. I want my art to be more than lines and shapes on a piece ofContinue reading “My Drawing Process”

My grandparents’ home is much different than my simple suburban cutout. It is out in the National Forest of Tallahassee, eight hours away. The home itself is surrounded by towering pine trees and all types of forest animals. I’ve seen white rabbits, beautiful deer, a curious owl, fireflies that light up every summer evening, fuzzyContinue reading “Listen to the Oak Tree”

Sophia Lopez, PPCHS’s 2021-22 Poetry Out Loud Finalist, 2022-23 NEHS Creative Director, and rising 2023-24 NEHS Vice President, is finishing up her junior year. She has admired the concept of realism for as long as she can remember. Her fascination with the animal world was the push to take on her own personal projects. WieldingContinue reading “Winter Troop Sighting”

Matthew Castillo is a graduating senior at Pembroke Pines Charter High School. His works are often based on questions that pop into his head, such as “What does that feeling look like when you’re looking up at the sky at 1 am, and forget that you’re even there?” Although previous pieces were created using dryContinue reading “Into the Beyond”

It was just me, my mother, and the plastic Jesus that sat on the dashboard of our tan, 2004 Honda Accord. While we drove over rocks and roadkill, my mother would put on one of the only three CDs that were occupying our junk-filled glove compartment. It was Neil Young’s Harvest, Loretta Lynn’s Greatest Hits,Continue reading “3 CDs”