Nicole Johnson

  • voyage

    This feeling of unease seeps its way into a world where hope is reserved for fighters. Coming from places where suns and moons rise at different times. They fight side by side, partners as some may say. How wide can one’s arms spread in a world reliant heavily on faith?…

  • Rainy day

    Straddling the line between monsoon and drought. The weatherman couldn’t predict Mother Nature this time. What was happening, there is no scientific diagnosis. The sky cried for a little while Until the sun broke through the clouds Just for a moment, everything was ok. Just for a moment, everyone was…

  • Free

    I’ve often reminisced about the wind gliding through the luster of my hair, I am transfixed— by the place that gave me asylum from my own pretenses. I walked through the meadow, Stumbling upon the lives that appeared before me An existence of utter tranquility That momentary silence heeded Engulfed…

  • A December graduate’s opinion

    One month ago today, 232 WSU Vancouver students became alumni Fellow Cougs, A month ago today, as the fall semester ended, an eerie feeling lingered through campus while students finished their last set of final exams. For 232 vancougs “finals week” was also our final week of school at WSU…

  • Figment of my imagination

    I’ve tried to see it through their eyes. How hard it must be to be torn. I feel like an ornament that sits atop the mantle. Visible and worn. It is not my intention to replace you But to compel you to be better humans. To be free-thinkers And self-sufficient.…

  • HIGH ANXIETIES | low turnout

    MONDAY OCT. 22 WSU Vancouver was sent into a tailspin after a student-comprised letter circulated around campus last week regarding a group called Patriot Prayer. Even before the group’s scheduled protest on Tuesday, Oct. 23, many students feared for their safety and were given the the okay from professors to…

  • The VanCougar wins national award

    The VanCougar won 7th Place Best in Show award at a national competition hosted by the Associated Collegiate Press. The publication was entered in the category of “four-year schools publishing a less-than-weekly newspaper” to a student body of 10,000 people or less. The competition took place at the annual Associated…

  • Memory

    The cloth placed firmly over my eyes. My mind races to the sound of her little cries My senses kick in as her tiny limbs brush across my dusted skin The softness clings long after her departure A smell of “brand new” that turns me into the lone-archer Every night…

  • Hush

    Blood boiling, Steam rising to the top Of surfaces we can’t touch. Asinine inquiries, Premeditated consciences Of translucent relationships. This ball of fury soaking, With heat forever warming Like the sun circulates around the moon. Too many words said, As they try to find boxes To make sense of this…

  • Faintless Phantom

    I can hear you Your voice, a drone of sensations yearning. I can feel it in my loins A touch remised. Too hard to forget. This ache saturates me A poison, never-ending melancholy. When you look at her, do you see me? The sun shines upon a face so angelic…