DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

This spring, our Honors English class will be planting native plants at the College of DuPage through what started as an effort to combat the negative impacts of lawn care on the environment. How we got to this point involved a mixture of brainstorming, research, and the use of rhetoric. For our presentation at the HCIR Student Symposium, we want to explain how this process unraveled and why we thought it was highly effective in teaching us the main objectives of the class. Using a video format, we will cover the various projects we completed during the semester and how each component lead to us getting the opportunity to plant these native plants on our campus

Isa, Ikram

Jovanovic, Andrea

The Unexpected Benefit of Native Plants on COD\u27s Campus

Worcester, Devina

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 1 Fall 2021 Article 22 
Fall 12-1-2021 
He Said, "You're Beautiful." 
Devina Worcester 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Worcester, Devina (2021) "He Said, "You're Beautiful."," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 22. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss1/22 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
A Mask of Stitches
Curse the mask that makes me ideal.
Keeping me imprisoned in my own mind,
As it frames my eyes and reveals
Scars that will never heal.
A shackle tightens around my heart as it binds.
Curse the mask that makes me fear
My own abnormalities that give me nerves of steel.
My shield of armor unwinds
As it frames my eyes and conceals 
Stitches that were sewn to appeal
To those who define the designs.
Curse the mask that makes me real
Because I’m sick of this whole ordeal.
When encasing me in its thorny vines
It frames my eyes as it yields
Hatred and sadness in which it wields.
Never to the mask will I resign.
So curse the mask that fills me with zeal.
As it frames my eyes with lies.
    - M.J. Dillon
He Said, “You’re Beautiful.” Mixed Media. Devina Worcester
21
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Worcester: He Said, "You're Beautiful."
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English

He Said,  You\u27re Beautiful.

Jain, Megha

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 1 Fall 2021 Article 36 
Fall 12-1-2021 
Radha Krishna 
Megha Jain 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Jain, Megha (2021) "Radha Krishna," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 36. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss1/36 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
THAT FIRST CAR
 
So you don’t need me to countersign the loan. 
And your fake ID has been packed away 
with your pennants and Foo Fighters CDs. 
You can vote for president. 
No doubt it’ll be for the other guy. 
Radha Krishna. Acrylic on Canvas (Madhubani Painting).
Megha Jain
40
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Jain: Radha Krishna
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Radha Krishna

Shank, Emily

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 1 Fall 2021 Article 41 
Fall 12-1-2021 
I dream of cruel things 
Emily Shank 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Shank, Emily (2021) "I dream of cruel things," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 41. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss1/41 
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 The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
I dream of cruel things
I dream of cruel things
Of saccharine kisses,
Passing honeyed promises between tongues
I dream of lovers
Of tender caresses leading towards a precipice of bliss
With fingers entwined. 
I dream of sleepy afternoons spent under sheets
The sunglow soft upon us
How callous of me
To dream such sweet dreams
When even my lips are chaste
But I want
Oh, how I long for intimacy
To kiss and cry and laugh
And to know and be known
          - Emily Shank
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Shank: I dream of cruel things
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I dream of cruel things

Bandusky, Nancy

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 1 Fall 2021 Article 47 
Fall 12-1-2021 
To Your Knees 
Nancy Bandusky 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Bandusky, Nancy (2021) "To Your Knees," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 47. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss1/47 
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 The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
To Your Knees
I know your pain is real.
And it’s still here.
You think I’ve given you more than you can handle.
You think I’ve given you more than you can take.
You fear that you are going to …
Break.
You buckle and fall.
To your knees you surrender.
You think you’re alone but you find
I’m there.
For when I drive you to your knees,
You’re safe as you can be.
I have you in the palm of my hand.
Holding you.
I hear you cry out to me.
Why don’t I take it all away?
Why can’t your life be free of despair?
Why do you have such pain and strife?
Why do I allow this …
In your life?
You buckle and fall.
To your knees you surrender.
You think you’re alone but you find
I’m there.
For when I drive you to your knees,
You’re safe as you can be.
I have you in the palm of my hand.
Holding you.
I’ve always been there
Holding you
In the palm of my hand.
          
  - Nancy Bandusky
50
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Bandusky: To Your Knees
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To Your Knees

Kreger, Jack

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 1 Fall 2021 Article 48 
Fall 12-1-2021 
Early Morning Fisherman 
Jack Kreger 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Kreger, Jack (2021) "Early Morning Fisherman," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 48. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss1/48 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
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Kreger: Early Morning Fisherman
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Early Morning Fisherman

Sardina, Linnea

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 1 Fall 2021 Article 60 
Fall 12-1-2021 
Flowers 
Linnea Sardina 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Sardina, Linnea (2021) "Flowers," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 60. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss1/60 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Pretty Again
Stitch.
By stitch. 
I can fix you 
and make you whole again. 
A lolling head 
can be affixed 
with sturdy iron bars. 
Decaying skin 
can be drawn together, pretty
with red ribbon.
Cloudy eyes
can be removed 
delicately, carefully
replaced with 
gleaming, polished glass. 
Bright blue.
Flowers. Photography. Linnea Sardina
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Sardina: Flowers
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Flowers

Loi, Raymond

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 1 Fall 2021 Article 64 
Fall 12-1-2021 
Self Portrait 
Raymond Loi 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Loi, Raymond (2021) "Self Portrait," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 64. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss1/64 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
mother’s house that day. He was investigating a complaint from a 
neighbor who smelled gas. My mother didn’t answer, so they broke 
down the door.
The man found her dead on the kitchen floor. The coroner reported 
she had died from a heart attack.
I had to identify the body at the morgue. It was the first time in my 
life I had seen her at peace. Looking at her slab of death on a metal 
table, I was happy that she died in her home. And at her funeral, I 
made sure I buried her with her house key around her neck.
Soon, I rented a truck and cleaned out her apartment. It was sad to 
see the place she loved so barren. I imagined that whoever moved 
in would hear a tub running three times a day and my mother’s 
footsteps going from room to room. Because I believed, even in 
death, she’d still be there.
       
Self Portrait. Photography. Raymond Loi
67
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Loi: Self Portrait
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Self Portrait

Maolalai, D.S.

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 1 Fall 2021 Article 76 
Fall 12-1-2021 
Occasionally portraiture 
D.S. Maolalai 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Maolalai, D.S. (2021) "Occasionally portraiture," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44 : No. 1 , Article 76. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss1/76 
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 The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Occasionally portraiture
sometimes people paint 
well, but mostly 
they don’t. 
life, this collection
of jack b yeats 
crowd scenes
as you walk 
through the national
gallery. paint
and smudged paint,
spilling people’s
bodies. bright colour 
and he understood 
how movement moves
along. though occasionally
portraiture, because sometimes
people warrant it. not
the most interesting people;
just those with their corners
defined.
   - D.S. Maolalai
78
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Maolalai: Occasionally portraiture
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Occasionally portraiture

Fortier, Mardelle

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 
Number 2 Spring 2021 Article 74 
Spring 5-1-2021 
Back Cover - ORCHID OF THE ISLANDS: DAWN ON A HIGH HILL 
Mardelle Fortier 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Fortier, Mardelle (2021) "Back Cover - ORCHID OF THE ISLANDS: DAWN ON A HIGH HILL," The Prairie 
Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 2 , Article 74. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss2/74 
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 The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Prairie Light Review
Volume 43 ◊ No. 2
 
Spring 2021
ORCHID OF THE ISLANDS: DAWN ON A HIGH HILL
Mardelle Fortier
Snow-white head appears over regal purple dress.
Slowly she nods to the low-bending grass.
As sun stands behind her—we see her gold tiara.
Do not leave us, fair one.
We all need a monarch. 
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Fortier: Back Cover - ORCHID OF THE ISLANDS: DAWN ON A HIGH HILL
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The Unexpected Benefit of Native Plants on COD\u27s Campus

He Said, You\u27re Beautiful.