DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

Johnson, Michael Lee

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 1 Article 39
Fall 12-1-2016
Common Church Poem
Michael Lee Johnson
College of DuPage
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Recommended Citation
Johnson, Michael Lee (2016) "Common Church Poem," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 1 , Article 39.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss1/39
The soul battles, 
longing for freedom 
from the horrors that bound it. 
Yet, the nightmare lingers; 
even as joy seems just within reach. 
  
Haunted by memories 
no child should know; 
scarred by hate and ugliness, 
held paralyzed by emotions, 
lost in the weight of the rain.   
No rainbow in sight. 
A once and future prisoner, 
captive to the promises made in love and 
duty. 
The nightmare scoffs at the loyalty, 
given freely to those which give not. 
  
Moments stolen by someone else’s power. 
A legacy persists that isn’t deserved; 
but hate remains not. 
For even just a glimmer of hate 
locks chains around the soul, 
hindering movement and purpose 
and denies the future its rightful 
place. 
  
A destiny of revelation 
shines the path with lightening ever 
bright. 
A journey of healing traverses, 
step by step, choice by choice. 
Only the thunderstorms of life offer 
comfort, 
serving as a reminder that good 
remains. 
  
Choice the weapon of need 
And words the teller of stories. 
Forgiveness is the key! 
Released into hope, 
an unknown freedom awaits. 
Shedding the nightmare of its power 
And the memory of its pain. 
“the nightmare” 
U
nt
itl
ed
Ch
ar
co
al
 D
ra
w
in
g 
by
 E
un
ic
e M
el
ar
a
Bonniejean Alford
 27  Fall 2016
1
Johnson: Common Church Poem
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2016


English

Common Church Poem

Jefferies, Madeline

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 1 Article 48
Fall 12-1-2016
Imagine
Madeline Jefferies
College of DuPage
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The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Jefferies, Madeline (2016) "Imagine," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 1 , Article 48.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss1/48
Imagine 
 
Rushing and bustling 
nonstop hustling 
it creates nothing inside 
but internal tussling. 
Emailing and messaging 
IMing and inboxing 
leave no room 
for my mouth to your listening. 
  
Imagine the world 
with your phone turned off 
with eyes wide open 
and your soul turned soft. 
Imagine the feeling 
the feeling of Being 
of being the imagination 
that the world is needing. 
Imagine the person 
who yearns for your hand 
to let go of troubles 
and to leave this land. 
Imagine the place 
that leaves no trace 
of a virtual self 
or a physical wealth. 
Imagine the you 
the you that can do 
all the things 
that you never dreamed to. 
Imagine the impact 
that blows all minds 
that creates a new purpose 
for man of all kind. 
  
Beeping and buzzing 
tedious combusting 
networking and connecting 
with no real investing. 
Peace and inventing 
with ideas innovating 
leave a universe of room 
for mindful unendings. 
I Can See You
Acrylic (mural) by Natalia Tertusio
Madeline Jefferies
34  Prairie Light Review
1
Jefferies: Imagine
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Imagine

Guerrero, Julio

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 1 Article 50
Fall 12-1-2016
Morning Reflections
Julio Guerrero
College of DuPage
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The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Guerrero, Julio (2016) "Morning Reflections," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 1 , Article 50.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss1/50
I live my life inside my patio window. 
It’s here, at my business desk I slip 
into my own warm pajamas and slippers- 
seek Jesus, come to terms 
with my own cross and brittle conditions. 
Outside, winter night turns to winter storm, 
the blue jay, cardinal, sparrows and doves 
go into hiding, away from the razor whipping winds, 
behind willow tree bare limb branches- 
they lose their faces in somber hue. 
Their voices at night abbreviate 
and are still, short like Hemingway sentences. 
With this poetic mind, no one cares 
about the seasons and the slants 
the wind or its echoes.
The Seasons and the Slants
M
or
ni
ng
 R
efl
ec
tio
ns
Ph
ot
og
ra
ph
y 
by
 Ju
lio
 G
ue
rr
er
o
Michael Lee Johnson
 35  Fall 2016
1
Guerrero: Morning Reflections
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Morning Reflections

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 1 Article 64
Fall 12-1-2016
gratitude
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in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
(2016) "gratitude," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 1 , Article 64.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss1/64
gratitude
colophon
We are grateful for programming support from Dr. Ann Rondeau, Dr. Jean Kartje, 
Dr. Joe Collins, Barb Groves, Dean Chuck Boone, Cathie Walker, and Dr. Mark 
Collins. We applaud the constant nudging from faculty who encourage their stu-
dents to submit work, and we offer gratitude to the teaching staff who help stu-
dents revise and perfect their creative submissions. Thanks to Chuck Steele and 
the Office of Student Life for their constant publicity and support. Also, thanks to 
Tim Wayman and Bailey Kovac for their knowledge, patience, and printing service 
at Alphagraphics in Lisle.  Lastly, thanks to Donna Lucania for sharing her 
InDesign knowledge and advice.
Twice a year for publication in the December and May issues, all students, faculty, 
staff, and the College of DuPage District 502 community are invited to submit up 
to four creative works per entrant of original fiction; nonfiction; essays; poetry; 
graphic essays; black and white and color photography; and 2D and 3D artwork 
of any medium. A class of student editors who are enroled in English 2210 reads 
blind entries before making final selections through a numerical voting system. 
The class is guided by a faculty advisor, who additionally leads the hiring process 
for the officer positions of Editor-In-Chief, Production Editor, and Marketing 
Editor. Over the course of the semester the Editor-In-Chief leads the team and 
supervises all operations, including assisting Marketing Editors as they work to 
advertise upcoming deadlines and events and oversee PLR correspondence, and 
assisting the Production Editor as they put together the magazine. Final edits are 
approved by the editorial staff before the finished product is sent the printers near 
the end of the semester.
Si
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e; 
Ph
ot
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by
 R
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 R
oy
 47  Fall 2016
1
et al.: gratitude
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gratitude

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2012 Domestic Violence Awareness Fair_01

Curtice, Ashley

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 38 | Number 2 Article 12
Spring 5-1-2016
Exploration of a Dreamer
Ashley Curtice
College of DuPage
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Recommended Citation
Curtice, Ashley (2016) "Exploration of a Dreamer," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 38: No. 2, Article 12.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol38/iss2/12
Looking to the stars,  
they’re calling me. 
I can hear my name, 
floating, 
through the vast universe.  
 
Wanting to be up there 
in the celestial abyss, 
to frolic in my dreams 
and explore the unanswered questions 
of this wondrous place.
Exploration of a Dreamer
Ashley Curtice
Blue Planet
Photography
Martin Johnson
My heart flies up to the sky 
to dance with the moon 
as we watch the earth spin by. 
The things we could uncover 
gives me child-like excitement. 
 
My heart and mind merge together in harmony, 
on an epic journey through the darkness, 
while my feet stay planted on terrestrial soil, 
never hearing the countdown for takeoff.
Spring 2016 91
Curtice: Exploration of a Dreamer
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2015


Exploration of a Dreamer

Julieta, Ixta

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 38 | Number 2 Article 21
Spring 5-1-2016
Natural Causes
Ixta Julieta
College of DuPage
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This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
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Recommended Citation
Julieta, Ixta (2016) "Natural Causes," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 38: No. 2, Article 21.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol38/iss2/21
Danny
Jessica Kosar
I want to know the side that she knew so well 
before it was destroyed. 
I want the side that flourished and bloomed 
The lush green ivy encrusting window panes
            Brick wall was all I found
  
I want to hear the songs you blared on the radio 
before you drove off in silence
I want the affection that was once trademark 
before it was shelved at a Goodwill
  
You scarcely notice my touch 
            There is too much scar tissue
You say that silver is second best 
But she was fool’s gold
Tossing bikes to the ground, 
we exclaim this new finding: 
whorls and curls of bark 
strewn in prairie grass 
like so much evidence. 
  
Just two young girls, we 
can’t identify the species 
of the tree above; instead 
gingerly collect several scraps. 
Our small brown hands 
rub each piece like worry 
stones as we remark on 
the marvel of this tree 
both alive and not. 
Natural Causes
Ixta Julieta
The sun is setting and father 
wants us home, I say. 
So you and I document 
each fragment. (It’s vital, 
this preservation, you say.) 
  
Eventually these remnants 
will fit neatly into a shadow box, 
beside a dead yellow jacket 
and some fragrant sage. 
  
But tonight as we wait, 
we lay each bit of bark 
on clean butcher paper 
for proper examination.
Spring 2016 171
Julieta: Natural Causes
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Natural Causes

ESSAI
Volume 14 Article 3
Spring 2016
Awards and Recognitions
Follow this and additional works at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Prefatory Note is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for
inclusion in ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
(2016) "Awards and Recognitions," ESSAI: Vol. 14 , Article 3.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol14/iss1/3
II 
 
 
 
Awards and Recognitions 
 
 
 
ESSAI is a recipient of the prestigious recognitions of  
 
The 2005 Distinguished Achievement Award 
of the Community College Humanities Association  
 
 
 
The Society of Midland Author’s Qwertyuiop Award 
 
(Founded in 1915, the Society of Midland Authors has included for its members 
Hamlin Garland, Harriet Monroe, Vachel Lindsay, Edna Ferber, Carl Sandburg, 
Jane Addams, Clarence Darrow, and other literary luminaries.) 
 
 
and 
 
 
The 2009 Diana Hacker Two-Year College English Association (TYCA) Award for 
Outstanding Program for Two-Year Colleges and Teachers 
In the Category of Fostering Student Success 
(The TYCA is a national organization that belongs to 
the National Council of the Teachers of English-NCTE). 
 
1
et al.: Awards and Recognitions
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Awards and Recognitions

Czopek, Corey

ESSAI
Volume 14 Article 14
Spring 2016
Epic Simile: A Window to the Past
Corey Czopek
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Czopek, Corey (2016) "Epic Simile: A Window to the Past," ESSAI: Vol. 14 , Article 14.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol14/iss1/14
36 
Epic Simile: A Window to the Past 
 
by Corey Czopek 
 
(English 1159) 
 
 
 
n The Iliad, Homer often uses a literary device known as epic simile. He uses this device to give 
greater emphasis to the events and emotions as they occur. Often he will liken something to a 
natural event, such as a great storm or a river flowing. He will also sometimes use allusions to 
everyday life that the common people would understand, such as chopping down a tree or fitting the 
bricks of a building. In using these comparisons, he allows people that may have never experienced 
war to picture the events as they unfold. While you can simply say that two great armies clashed on a 
battlefield, the image of waves crashing on rocks can bring your audience farther into your story. 
Now while epic simile is used elsewhere in the story I will be focusing mainly on its uses to describe 
events on the battlefield. Epic simile helps the audience understand the battlefield by comparing 
army formations to a stone wall, Diomedes’ fighting to a torrent, and an Argive breakthrough to a 
storm. 
Firstly, Homer compares the formation of the Argive army to the bricks of a stone wall. 
Homer sings, “Hearing the king’s command the ranks puller closer, / tight as a mason packs a good 
stone wall, / blocks on granite blocks for a storied house / that fights the ripping winds-crammed so 
close / the crested helmets, the war-shields bulging, jutting / buckler-to-buckler, helm-to-helm, man-
to-man massed tight / and the horsehair crests on glittering helmet horns brushed / as they tossed 
their heads, the battalions bulked so dense” (16. 250 – 257). One of the things about the ancient 
battlefield that people often misunderstand is how the fighting actually occurred. Fighters were 
generally not spread out in a wild melee, or hacking through the enemies one at a time. Ancient 
armies tended to use a formation called a phalanx. In this formation the soldiers would line up 
shoulder to shoulder and overlap their shields, creating a strong barrier between them and the other 
army. This was quite effective as anybody who has heard the story of the battle of Thermopylae 
probably knows (Mark). While often these stories will describe heroes who fearlessly rushed out to 
engage the enemy by themselves, this was rarely the case. In reality if a man had broken from the 
ranks to attack the opposing army, he would have hit this wall and been either impaled on a spear or 
trampled by the army. He would also have left a gap in his side’s formation and the opposing army 
would have smashed right through them. So why is this comparison important? It helps the reader to 
understand just how close and compact the army really was. It would have been an almost 
claustrophobic experience to be in this formation as the soldiers packed together; with the only thing 
keeping them alive being their strength and the strength of the men beside them. The imagery of 
bricks packed so tightly that they don’t even require mortar to stay together is perfect for this. They 
would be able to understand the strength the soldiers would have together, ready to shrug off a wave 
of attackers. Much like a brick house can remain standing even when the winds tear at it. In this way 
Homer uses this comparison to help the audience understand what a battle was like. 
Secondly, Homer compares Diomedes fighting the Trojans to a winter torrent. Homer sings, 
“Down the plain he stormed like a stream in spate, / a routing winter torrent sweeping away the 
dikes: / the tight, piled dikes can’t hold it back any longer, / banks shoring the blooming vineyards 
cannot curb its course / a flash flood bursts as the rains from Zeus pour down their power, / acre on 
acre the well / dug work of farmers crumbling under it / so under Tydides’ force the Trojan columns 
panicked now, / no standing their ground, massed, packed as they were” (5.  96 – 103). Now as I 
have said, ancient fighting usually took place in a phalanx. However, as this story includes fights 
I
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37 
with heroes favored by the gods, we don’t always see this. In chapter five we see Diomedes, 
empowered by Athena, killing many of the Trojans by himself. His onslaught is compared to a 
torrent, unstoppable. He was sweeping through the enemy lines and no one could hold him back. 
This imagery was perfect for the audience as it was something they could understand. Many of the 
common people who heard the story would have seen this exact thing happen in a rainy season. They 
would know what it looks like when a flooding river breaks through a dike and sweeps out over a 
field, destroying the crops and structures. Having observed this, it would be simple for them to 
imagine the enemy forces being swept away by Diomedes. It would also enable them to experience 
the fear the enemy army would feel as they saw him coming. They knew that when faced with a flash 
flood, there is nothing you can do about it. You can’t fight it, you can’t stop it, all you can do is try to 
get out of the way. This is exactly how the enemy force would have felt as well. In using this 
comparison, Homer helps common people to understand the fury of this battle. 
 Lastly, Homer compares an Argive breakthrough of the Trojan army lines to a storm. Homer 
sings “An Argive breakthrough / bright as the moment Zeus the lord of lightning moves / from a 
craggy mountain ridge a storm massing dense / and all the lookout peaks stand out and the jutting 
cliffs / and the steep ravines and down from the high heavens bursts / the boundless bright air… so 
now the argives drove the ravening fire clear of the warships” (16. 348 – 354). While Homer used the 
imagery of a rushing torrent to describe Diomedes’ offense, here he uses a storm coming down from 
a mountain. This is because the two battles would have had a very different feel to them. In this battle 
the Trojans were rushing the Achaeans, who had their backs to the sea and their ships. Much like 
being at a mountain’s peak, the only way to go is back down the way you came. With their ships 
under fire, the Achaeans would have had only one option, push the Trojans back. Now to a Trojan 
warrior this would have had a very powerful effect. He’s rushing in, ready to burn their ships and 
wipe them out. He knows that they have nowhere else to go. Then suddenly, he and his brothers are 
being pushed back. He’s no longer advancing, he’s just trying to not give up ground. He can feel the 
force of the opposing army throwing his back, even if just a little. A storm would be a good 
representation of that as it wasn’t wanton destruction that was occurring but a deadlock. The Trojans 
aren’t losing much ground, but they simply cannot advance further. This is similar to trying to walk 
against a strong wind; while it doesn’t push you to the ground, you do lose a step before you find 
your balance. In this ways Homer helps the audience to understand this particular moment in the 
battle. 
In conclusion, Homer’s use of epic simile helps the audience understand the battlefield by 
comparing army formations to a stone wall, Diomedes’ fighting to a torrent, and an Argive 
breakthrough to a storm. Now some of these images don’t carry over as well to modern times. Many 
people nowadays have never seen a flood in real life, much less lived through one. When we build 
something it is usually out of concrete or steel, not brick with no mortar. Modern readers also have 
one other thing going against them: they’re used to seeing a story. Whether it’s T.V. or movies, 
people usually can’t picture a battle without it being shown to them. Luckily, Homer’s use of epic 
simile allows you to form a complete picture of every aspect of the story. When you read through 
The Iliad you can envision every event. All the characters look and sound exactly how you think they 
should. You create the world of the story in your head, perfect in every detail. You find yourself 
transported to ancient times, standing among legends. 
 
  
 
Works Cited 
 
Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fagles. London: Penguin, 1998. Print. 
Mark, Joshua. The Greek Phalanx. Ancient History Encyclopedia. 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. 
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Epic Simile: A Window to the Past

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