Author Archives: theatala

Click HERE to view cover art by Kyle Merchant Please click on thumbnails below to view the full content of each work: Our Spring 2024 issue of the atala was designed, curated, and edited by Editor in Chief Kiley Irizarry and NEHS Advisor Ms. Sarah Phelps. Our 2023-24 atala social media manager was Ariana Lesmes.

Virginia is a cruel place–all you could hear was the weeping of separated mothersall you could see was the miles of unpicked labor all you could taste was the iron from biting your fleshy cheekall you could smell was the rotting of the hanging treeall you could feel was the searing of deep whipped gashesContinue reading “A Song For Sally (and the thousand other slave girls like her)”

Set amidst the dark trenches of World War I, Siegfried Sassoon’s sonnet “Dreamers” paints a moving picture of the mental and physical battles faced by soldiers at war, using his own experiences as a backdrop. The poet weaves a narrative that switches between the horrific realities of conflict and soldiers’ inner yearnings. In contrast toContinue reading “Exploring the Depths of Soldiers’ Psyches in “Dreamers””

Emily Arcia is a student artist at Pembroke Pines Charter High School who is finishing up her junior year. She enjoys drawing a variety of things from colorful compositions to horror abominations.

An ekphrastic poem is inspired by a work of art. Ariana Bonilla’s “Under The Same Moon” is inspired by Edvard Munch’s 1892 painting, The Mystery of a Summer Night. In the heart of a summer nightthe grasses sway and the moon swoonsover the sleepy town below it.For she too wishes for a quaint lifethough sheContinue reading “Under The Same Moon”

Evan Omana is finishing up his sophomore year and is graphic editor of the schools CHAT newspaper. He started getting into art last year and and particularly loves making art digitally using photoshop! He also practices krav maga and plays guitar.

An ekphrastic poem is inspired by a work of art. Jadelyn Corzo’s “Us” is inspired by Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. I love the waywe fit togetherlike puzzle pieces, orthe heart and vesselsof blood, neverwithout the other, untildeath I love being insideyour brain, to tasteyour thoughts and allthe dirty things, you knowI am the only onewhoContinue reading “Us”

To the shattered stone of my youthful years In shadows cast by fear, in silence drownedI make this verse, a tale of walking soft. On eggshells thin, an unsafe ground. In the empty halls of my childhood, A song of tension, a somber score, Whispers dance on the fragile shells, Each step, a gamble, anContinue reading “Childhood Symphony”

Kyle Merchant is a graduating senior and Creative Writing student at Pembroke Pines Charter High School. This piece was inspired by contrasting day and nighttime photographs that he took while in another country. Kyle is also a musician and visual artist. His digital art piece “Helix” is featured on the cover of this issue ofContinue reading “In Light Of Dawn and Dusk”

Sophia Lopez, graduating PPCHS senior and our 2023-24 NEHS Vice President, is a long-time artist who has contributed her realistic sketches of animals to our 2022, 2023, and 2024 issues of the atala. “The Tiger” was created using black prismacolor pencil. Sophia also writes poetry: her free verse poem “Orchids” in this year’s issue.