Congratulations to our 2026 Amaranth Winners!

Amaranth is the literary and artistic journal of St. Joseph High School, comprised of works submitted by students, faculty, and staff. This year, we are proud to highlight 2 student works which were selected anonymously by the student-staff for Awards!

The theme for this year's issue is Duet and the 2025-2026 Student Award Winners Are: 

 

Sophia Evers '26 - "I Will Carry You with Me"
Mixed Medium

"This piece is inspired by the feeling of carrying in your heart all the people who have affected your life and who have loved you along the way. The bees are vulture bees, which are known in nature to make honey from dead animals; the story is that they collected pieces of the people I love in the hive that is my heart. I feel I would not be who I am today without my loved ones, so this is my very personal way of giving back to them and by showing them how deeply they impacted me. The theme for the magazine is Duet, thus this inspired me to use two mediums to show a connected harmony between two different art forms. Displaying my desired story and the emotion behind it, as well as fitting the desired intertwined feeling this magazine publication wishes to portray.

 

 

 

 

Naomi Sandoval-Alcantara '28- "Memories from Home"
Free-verse poem accompanied by a digital painting

"The first thing I think of when hearing Duets is an everlasting friendship. This was the inspiration for both my creative pieces; however, I wanted to add a twist to my writing so I decided to incorporate a tragedy in order to show how overtime a duet can fade."

“Memories from Home”

She walked a few steps ahead of me
I asked her why she was in a rush 
In a rush to go home 
She smiled and answered
“The faster I get there, 
the faster I can come back to you”

And so she walked ahead 
And I followed a few steps behind 
And I knew I would see her soon

She wasn’t my only friend
I had others who filled the silence inside me 
Yet somehow it was never fully filled 
Not if she wasn’t there
The girl who stayed closest to me 

I grew attached
It was her and me against the world
Not because we had no one else
But because we chose each other

She came over like she had promised
We played games,
We ate lots of food,
she found laughter in nothing 
My favorite part of her was her laugh. 

She always knew how to make me forget 
Forget of my depressing nature
She always knew how to cheer me up
She always knew what to say
“This feels like home. You are my home”

I was happy
Happy knowing she felt safe with me
Happy knowing she was comfortable

It has been a few days 
My eye bags are darker and deeper
I lie on my bed staring at my ceiling,
I let the silence press into me
Just like it did before I met her

I close my eyes
I search for her smile 
I search for her laughter
I hope for their return
Even though I know 
They will never come back

I whisper hope
To the air she used to breathe
To the walls she once leaned on
To the places her presence once stood

I hope she can hear me through my tears 
I hope my words reach her.

It has been a few days 
I have pictures of her
I have things that belonged to her
But her laughter and smiles are already fading

I curl into myself
Press my head into my pillow 
And wish

I wish she could come back
Come back to me
But I know that’s impossible,
She's gone 
I only have her memory left 
I’ll never get to see her rush
just to come home to me.