Insecurities//Michael Sprague & Smudge//Haylie Folsom

Insecurities//Michael Sprague

I feel like a frog

Pinned to a table

With a scalpel dissecting

My every word

My writing under a fluorescent light

Examined by people I can’t see

Taking notes on my biology

Mentioning my background

I have been cut open

No one bothered to sew me up

My guts are left on the table

My poems thrown aside


Insecurities-Audio

Smudge//Haylie Folsom

Haylie Folsom

Haylie Folsom is a senior counseling psychology and studio art major from Atchison, KS. At Morningside, she is a captain on the women’s swim team and a DJ at Morningside’s radio station. She has always loved reading, writing, and drawing, and is excited to see her work featured in this year’s Kiosk.

Michael Sprague

Michael is an adventurous person; he does things on a whim. Although spontaneous he is also indecisive and may hesitate when it comes to some decisions. He may not always want to but he will sympathize with others around him.

The Savvy Ghost’s Survival Guide//Haylie Folsom & Rock Paper Scissors//Laura Greene

The Savvy Ghost’s Survival Guide//Haylie Folsom

Every culture has its legends. Tales whispered in the dark to hushed rooms. Men and beasts and legends too strange to be spoken by daylight. This is a very old story. Ancient humans around a campfire. Dancing flames and whispered words. Have you ever whispered “ghost” to your shadow? Has it ever whispered back? Mine has. 

It was many years ago that I died. Try not to worry yourself about it. It was so long ago, and as it just so happens, one doesn’t need a body or a breath to exist. I still see, still wander, still float endlessly through these winding halls. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve seen here.

Eppley, Dearest, you are quite haunted, aren’t you? Your shadows are darker than the witching hour and deeper than the trench. I pray for students who happen upon you after dark. It is for this very reason that I write this guide. We ghosts may not be able to leave, but most of you students can. If, of course, you follow my simple advice.

  1. The hooded figures are quite unnerving, but they prefer to keep to themselves. If you do the same, you’ll be fine. Stay far away when they perform their nightly rituals. Try not to think too much about that red liquid on the floor or the mysterious box that they carry with them.
  2. The Mangled Man is, admittedly, terrifying to look at. Don’t comment on his appearance, as he is very sensitive about it. If you listen carefully around 2:35 each morning, you can hear him playing piano. It is sublime.
  3. Stay far, far away from the paintings at night. They may look harmless, but the creature who lives in them is hungry. If you wander too near, she may drag you into her acrylic prison.
  4. The boy in the auditorium is quite harmless. Sing to him, if you like. If he enjoys it, he may present you with a balloon.
  5. Plug your ears if you hear any high-pitched screeching. Drop to your knees and pray if you hear low-pitched humming. Never speak of either one if you make it out alive.
  6. The sounds coming from the basement are not your imagination and you should absolutely not investigate them. 
  7. Whatever you do, DO NOT write your name anywhere on the walls unless you want to be permanently bound to the building. Trust me, I’ve seen many a student meet this fate. Not a fun way to go. I do enjoy their company though. 
  8. Eliza is a safe and permanent resident of Eppley. Treat her kindly. She would appreciate it if you would leave a sandwich or two in the ceramics room, as she gets hungry. Eliza is not a ghost, but an old woman who lives in the walls, and you should not look for her.
  9. Tread softly at night, lest you wake The Beast. Don’t ask me what The Beast is. I don’t know. Nobody knows. Stop asking me.
  10. Don’t study in the Eppley at night. Just don’t. It’s a little known fact that the word ‘studying’ is actually a combination of the words ‘student’ and ‘dying.’ If you want to find out why, study in the Eppley after dark.
  11. THIS STEP IS VERY IMPORTANT. Talk to my portrait when you pass it, or at least say hi. I like to feel seen. It’s been so long since someone living has been able to see me. 

Of course, all of these should be common sense, but I suppose wisdom would be wasted on the young. That’s why I’m here. Well. That, and a faulty ladder, but that’s besides the point. I give you this advice in the interest of keeping you safe during your stay at Morningside University. What? No one ever said I was an unkind ghost. That’s a stereotype, and frankly, it’s offensive to ghosts. Regardless, you can choose whether or not to take my advice, but I warn you that, should you ignore it, the consequences may be deadly. Good luck and happy studying, Mustangs.


The Savvy Ghost’s Survival Guide – Audio

Rock Paper Scissors//Laura Greene

Haylie Folsom

Haylie Folsom is a senior counseling psychology and studio art major from Atchison, KS. At Morningside, she is a captain on the women’s swim team and a DJ at Morningside’s radio station. She has always loved reading, writing, and drawing, and is excited to see her work featured in this year’s Kiosk.

Laura Greene

Laura Greene is a freshman at Morningside University. She is currently double majoring in Studio Art and Art Administration with the hopes to one day become a freelance artist. She is also part of the track team. Art has always been, and will continue to be, Laura’s greatest passion.


Old Bones//Haylie Folsom & Human Anatomy//Abigail Langseth

Old Bones//Haylie Folsom

Human Anatomy//Abigail Langseth

I’m not really sure what else the cafeteria serves at lunch because I always get a wrap. Usually it’s the spinach kind, and I’ll get turkey and salami and onions and banana peppers and…more spinach. I just have a hard time believing they could fit much spinach in the wrap itself, so I get more. I started adding it after my second appointment at the plasma donation center. The woman taking my vitals told me my iron levels were low, but not low enough to start licking rocks. I think that’s a thing. She recommended that I start taking some supplements along with my slight dietary adjustment. I try to take the pills every other day. I put them in my weekly organizer, but I usually forget about them and they get moved to the next week. I haven’t had a problem with it since. 

I do have a problem with my heart though. It beats too fucking fast. I consistently have a pulse rate above 100, which is beyond the acceptable range to donate plasma. They say women’s hearts beat faster than men’s because women’s hearts are smaller. I must have a damn small heart.

In anatomy it was easier for me to think of the human body as anyone else’s. Being that mindful of myself and my functions and parts has to jinx something. What if it stopped. If I think too much about my own heart, I can feel it beat all over. So, I think about someone else having the same problems as me. Jane Doe’s heart doesn’t sit snuggly between her lungs. Her heart is small and sunken and does not conform to her lung’s cardiac notch. Her poor heart, beating away and subject to every little stimulus. Something happened, go faster now, faster. Give us 100, Jane’s heart. Give us all you’ve got. Then give us more. 


Haylie Folsom

Haylie Folsom is a senior counseling psychology and studio art major from Atchison, KS. At Morningside, she is a captain on the women’s swim team and a DJ at Morningside’s radio station. She has always loved reading, writing, and drawing, and is excited to see her work featured in this year’s Kiosk.

Abigail Langseth

Abby Langseth is a first year nursing major from Omaha, NE. Throughout her life, she has had a love for poetry and literature. Abby is excited to say that her writings have been published in Kiosk.