Slade watched as a squadron of gulls flew formations in the sky, dipping periodically to try their luck amongst the foaming waves below…

It’s a little metal object that will not harm anything or anyone anymore…

“Do you want to get decked in the face?”…

These are three opening lines to literary pieces written by Austin Goth’11, Manuel Montanez’12, and Robert Cross’12, respectively. These are only three out of the dozens of interesting creative pieces in Staples’ long-running literary magazine, “Soundings.”

The 80-page book, just released, features a wide variety of pieces stretching from personal narratives to poems to fantasy stories to essays.

“Soundings is a collection of unique voices” said Soundings member, Harris Durrani.

To highlight these voices Inklings is featuring one story every day, for a school week.

Siren’s Silence

Madeline Seidman’13

one more day of fresh sea froth

foaming up along the coast.

another night awaits me

when the algae green waters turn

unseen

as the sun hides behind the horizon.

even so,

in the dark

i still hear them:

waves

as they collide against

crags, edges and cliffs

of my island

instantly dissolving into the surf.

just like every

boat, ship, vessel

that comes along,

promising me a future

filled with sailors that man

the crow’s nest, mizzenmast, and stern.

each time,

i am ensured over and over

as they skim

as they glide

the crew will find my

notes, arpeggios , and melodies

enchanting

enough to stay alive.

enough for the gods

to slow Poseidon’s seas

so as to land their ships safely on my island.

enough to keep the sailors blinded a second longer

before the veil covering their view

of my unvarnished self

is removed.

each time,

they panic

they crash

when they see the true me.

my last attempt to capture the heart

of a man at sea

was the song sung to you.

my swan song.

i had full confidence in my melodies.

that you could see past my body,

half women, half bird

and listen.

but Odysseus, you did nothing of the sort.

you did not even drop your anchor and stop.

you sailed past, ignoring me entirely.

now my song.

the sole beautiful part of me

no longer worked at all.

all I ever longed for was company

instead of skeletons.

i surrender.

“I wrote ‘Siren’s Silence’ as an assignment based on the Odyssey for my freshman English class. I had to take a character from the Greek myth and show a different perspective than Homer had written. I chose to write a poem about the Sirens, who Homer describes as horrendous creatures, and humanize them, giving them a reason for seeming so cruel.” – Madeline Seidman