WILLOW DELP
To rot is to join the raspberries in my fridge (so sweet, so short-lived.) To rot is to resist preservation; to be boldly, maddeningly temporal. …Continue Reading To Rot
To Rot
Tag: '26
The Great War
SYDNEY WILLIAMS
Before the Great Self War of Identity, there was simply Sydney. As a young girl, I was an avid reader. I loved getting lost in the worlds of stories and following the adventures of young heroines. …Continue Reading The Great War
A Tick
SYDNEY L. HARRIS
Eyes snap open, gazing up at a white ceiling. You breathe in and out deeply. INHALE EXHALE INHALE EXHALE INHALE EXHALE. It came again — the dream….Continue Reading A Tick
Space for Decay
SOFIA AHMED
I had to be called home, then dragged when I didn’t comply, to eat something. I was too happy, too alive, how was I supposed to remember that I needed food when I was this content? …Continue Reading Space for Decay
Voided
RANIA ADOUIM
As a kid, I used to lock myself in the bathroom and try to imagine what death was like…..Continue Reading Voided
How to Fall in ROT
GRACE ESCOE
I am not ashamed / That I have not known much intimacy / That I never had a hand that fit the curvature of my own / That I never had someone whisper my name…Continue Reading How to Fall in ROT
I Wanna Show You Someone
JORGE RODRIGUEZ JR
Their father threw a faded quilt in the middle seat where Ulysses would sit. Ulysses developed the habit of wetting himself when he felt the slightest urge to go. …Continue Reading I Wanna Show You Someone
Unpeel
VENUMI GAMAGE
The edges of my mind are lifting up — / there’s dust and dirt settled in so no matter how hard / I press and smooth my fingers over the peeling perimeter, nothing I do will…Continue Reading Unpeel
A Secret Door
KAELA LIU
We crossed the corner into an unfamiliar cul-de-sac. I had long since lost track of where we were walking, preferring instead to mindlessly track the rhythm of my pace with respect to my brother’s…Continue Reading A Secret Door
Drawing lines in the sand
GRACE ESCOE
I draw a line / My finger digs deep into the sand taking out a nice long straight line / That isn’t really my own even though I made it / The line that I cannot cross / The line that keeps me from making…Continue Reading Drawing lines in the sand
Veneration
EMILY WYKOFF
I’ve loved and lost and respected you / Things I never thought I’d say / I never wanted to love you / Nonetheless, the adoration found a way // They say that love is a choice / But, for you, it felt like falling…Continue Reading Veneration
girlhood: BLK edition
AWA DIOP
My makeup bag is full of shades of brown. Before me lay my brushes sprawled out and richly coated with this palette: my foundations of ebony, expresso, deep mahogany. My concealers of mocha, chestnut…Continue Reading girlhood: BLK edition
Improv Tragedy and Laughs Afterthefact
AIDAN COOPER
i squirrel away my hurts into peanut shells that i hide at the root of my knurled spine, / all my snot-bubbles, all my stubbed toes, / all the times i let my teeth ferment in my spit without brushing before bed…Continue Reading Improv Tragedy and Laughs Afterthefact
Stand to See
NICOLE ITKIN
not echoes, maybe / not even ghosts / still, they stand in
for // everything (everything) / I need most. // A girl in red curls over a bridge, / Dress trailing longer, lower- // who’s falling?…Continue Reading Stand to See
Addiction
SEBASTIAN PAREDES
He drinks coffee. He embraces the bitter liquid. He does not care that it burns the roof of his mouth. He does not care that he can see his hands trembling. He does not care that he can feel his body shaking….Continue Reading Addiction
Island of Reverence
WILLOW DELP
The dictionary is wrong. The dictionary is written by parents and upright magistrates and kings all ill-acquainted with true reverence, the reverence that makes you sob and beg and wail and grove…Continue Reading Island of Reverence
Water Beneath the Bridge
WILLOW DELP
The water was brown. / The Brabantio family had adamantly tried to ignore this fact – even the more progressive members politely refused to comment. …Continue Reading Water Beneath the Bridge
A Sovereign / Two Bodies
AIDAN COOPER
Her Prayer like a touch and boiling / Shiver turning the dust-clouds into rain. // He stands before a lectern named Wash / Where he uncoils ribbons from the holes / He cut through his fingertips the callouses…Continue Reading A Sovereign / Two Bodies
Stars Fallen From The Sky
EMILY WYKOFF
A blonde woman stands on the Brooklyn Bridge, waiting. Lifting her hand, she brushes a strand of perfectly curled hair into her scarf. She waits patiently, eyes staring off into the distance. …Continue Reading Stars Fallen From The Sky
Going Back
BLUMA HAMMARHEAD
Here is– the monument, / The bare room heavy with artifacts: / Strange velvet balls, stacks / Of letters, papers, / Old journals full of hypotheticals…Continue Reading Going Back
Reification: A Question in Serial
ESTEBAN SANCHEZ
I walk with you through a field of wild grass on a path laid out for us by others. Dandelion seeds float slowly, discernible against the blue sky, like white snowflakes that fall in other parts of the world….Continue Reading Reification: A Question in Serial
Connect
GRACE ESCOE
Great Chasm / An inch filled with a single board / Yet still vast / Yet still devoid // Concrete / Loads of hardened gray / Pillars of stone / All to endeavor / To contain You…Continue Reading Connect
Wildflower Humans
BRYAN FLORES
The entire town mocked him and some threatened him with pesticide when he approached, but no one had the heart to tell him that his father was not a wildflower human….Continue Reading Wildflower Humans
Braid Us
AWA DIOP
Adja parts the last section of hair with the rattail comb to hook in another box braid. She’s working on the last two braids of Michelle’s hair, a first-time customer. …Continue Reading Braid Us