Archive

A Brief Odyssey of Grief

black and white photo of someone staring at the sky

ZOE AKOTO
It’s something like six a.m. when I roll downstairs / and you’re already there, making coffee. // We manage smiles, faint good mornings / pre-caffeine triumphs, even on a good week, / and I slip past you, put on the tea kettle / and settle in at the end of the counter. / It’ll take longer than it should. / I still fill the kettle for two cups, / less on instinct now and more / in defiance / and I wonder when I’ll quit that….Continue Reading A Brief Odyssey of Grief

Five Til Noon

black-and-white drawing of someone lying under tree

SAM SPRATFORD
I first ran a lap in a scarlet sunrise, magenta clouds parting. Do you remember the way my hands shook as I / tied my shoelaces in the humid mist, double-knotted? Sprinting into the wind so quickly it was suffocating? / Staring at blank, ruled lines was the same and my heart was pounding as I clutched your hand in chemistry, / learning that too much oxygen could poison you. I guess there was such a thing as being too free….Continue Reading Five Til Noon

Who are you, really?

image of someone dancing

FRANCESCA DANIELS
What started as a simple Intro to Photography self-portrait assignment turned into an emotional internal dialogue and deep reflection about body, mind, and the way one sees oneself in various spheres of life. I like to think of myself as free and spirited, energetic and lively, but upon conversations with family and close friends, was reminded that this isn’t my whole story. I follow the rules, work hard, and try to plan ahead — there isn’t much free spirit in that. …Continue Reading Who are you, really?

The Art of Looking

DIEGO DUCKENFIELD-LOPEZ
I follow a mysterious woman draped in a navy-blue coat with a turquoise diamond pattern. The camera, like me, follows her steadfastly, focused on her hood, which bounces as she walks, until it falls off to reveal a messy bun of bright, blonde hair. She bolts towards the cliff, my heart matches her speed as she gets closer and closer without slowing down; I chase her desperately but the wind pushes me back…Continue Reading The Art of Looking

Cosmic Poiesis

blue outline of person dreaming of planets

JACKELINE FERNANDES
When the world crumbled last March, I hadn’t expected it to last so long that I would spin off course from my quotidian orbit around Earth, attracted by the unrelenting gravitational pull of Mars. I didn’t know it at the time, but the email correspondence with a sophomore in my Letter Writing J-term class would soon become something more, something indefinable, rooted in a mutual appreciation for the graphemic, morphological, and semantic elements of language. …Continue Reading Cosmic Poiesis

We Sell Care

cutout of a city. a hand in the middle says "We Sell Care"

MIKAYAH PARSONS
My gaze floats up to her lips, caked in red and drawn into a thin line with a slight upward tilt. She speaks as she looms behind the counter, “Yes, ma’am. So, you’ve purchased the basic package, which is really just the skeleton of the work we do here.”…Continue Reading We Sell Care

Letter from the Editor: Self-Care

Take care. Give each other care. Self-care. Be careful. Practice care. The sheer repetition of the word care slowly seeps its meaning from its form. The phrase becomes distorted, a lifeless shell of a sentiment so fundamental to life. In a global pandemic, the sentiment is well intended, yet as a greeting, a valediction, and…Continue Reading Letter from the Editor: Self-Care

Masks

While I have stayed at L. Bergstrom (23)’s family in the past months as I am unable to obtain a VISA renewal in China due to Covid-19, the family made over fifty masks and gave out most of them to those in need, including 39 masks to a nurse at the Dignity Hospital in Folsom,…Continue Reading Masks

Laptop Portrait Series

This photo series was initially begun at the beginning of the spring semester as a way to showcase the various identities and affinities that Amherst students display. This project began after my thesis advisor made a comment on one of my own laptop stickers, and I found that both of us had stickers that very…Continue Reading Laptop Portrait Series

“a world changed”

if i could say everything          all             at once                  i would.                           to be truthful                   i need to say              my body is floating   for fear of disintegration,      decompensating i breathe deeply        i think in moments even though          they are fleeting flashes have          soft, violent duration.    can pain make time detect -ible?        i doubt                        to be…Continue Reading “a world changed”

Misty

For my dog, upon her seventh birthday   She does not run as fast as she once did. Still, her legs swing like furry pendulums, Tiny chest seeming to graze the ground as She sprints after a wayward tennis ball.   The sound of knocking at the door used to Make her leap down from…Continue Reading Misty

Violence and Control

In the wake of the terrible shooting that took place in Florida a few weeks ago, I’d like to talk briefly about the difference between violence and control—there is no difference. Violence is control. Control is violence. Guns are violence, just as are hateful words. Telling someone they’re not good enough is violence, as is…Continue Reading Violence and Control

Flightless Bird

It was about 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday, February 21st, and 61-year-old Don McCevoy was following the perimeter of the New Science Building. He walked with a slight limp, which he’s had for years, the result of some long-forgotten injury. Don wore old jeans and a bright blue windbreaker. He swept a cane from left to…Continue Reading Flightless Bird

#MeToo: What Now?

On January 20th, I took to the streets of New York City, protesting alongside 200,000 other feminists, demanding equality in the second annual Women’s March. With the recent onslaught of sexual assault accusations, beginning with Weinstein and permeating out of LA and into our daily lives, the March could not have come at a more…Continue Reading #MeToo: What Now?

A Letter to Power

To Power: I saw you in my memories the other day. They were of my father and the stories he told me as a child, oral histories and old tales shipped express from his life in Ghana. I remember the Ashanti queens, such strong and powerful leaders, and the warriors with bodies coated in gold. I…Continue Reading A Letter to Power

Power in My Mother’s Hands

“I’m shutting down the business.” A few weeks ago, I received the most crushing news. Recalling it still introduces a heaviness into my limbs, the weight of loss and defeat. My mother told me her news casually, casually enough that I cannot quite remember the details now–was it over text? Were we seated at the…Continue Reading Power in My Mother’s Hands

Word-Pain Rising

I see the abyss before me, and it glows pixelated-white. I want to reach out, caress it… caress it like I might a cat—except this cat is deranged, with the cold eyes of an unrepentant killer. I anticipated an amicable response to my offering of friendship, and now I shudder beneath the weight of lightning-bolt pangs…Continue Reading Word-Pain Rising