Gabriele Tyson (Andrew Fraser)/Hashini Puwakgolle Mudiyanselage

Strong Strides

Andrew Fraser
Year of study: 3rd
Major: BFA, Honors Specialization in Studio Arts
Graduating: Incomplete
Moved from St. Thomas, ON to study in Visual Arts, Western University.

"Silent Battles"

White in the face, clad in brown,
Flashback’s to friars of olden times,
Walk past this mass
Crouched silent in the corner, but your mind Is reeling
You’ve spent a lifetime concealing,
This shadow, no longer a sign of your existence
But a reason for disappearance,
Every breath you take laboured
The weight of him dancing on your back -
Bends your resolution, you lose control
The reins are his
Your movements less fluid,
The pain numbs you to the feelings,
The good and the bad have seized
Stone faced, your sanity is held by a thread
The wind passes through your hair,
You find yourself on the ledge of a choice –
You or him, who will win this war,
One that has waged in silence
Your scars from the battles are fading
Time slows…
I hope it is you who I saw walking away
Straight back, free.
I hope you won your war,
One more victory –
in a terrifying world of losses too young.

Hashini Puwakgolle Mudiyanselage is a fourth-year student who is completing a degree in  Medical Sciences and Bioarchaeological Anthropology. She is from Sri Lanka, and stigma around different aspects of her life due to her culture prompted her to use writing as a form of expression. Most of what she writes is related to personal experiences or stories she has conjured based on her immediate environment.