POETRY

11 PM Elegy words by Max Friedman-Coleillustration by Cameron Ashley And the buildings are breathing like beastsAnd time is imprisoned in aspicAnd the streetlights stare down in shameAnd the ever-beating tide of the city is beginning to ebb. And the car carapaces are funhouse mirrorsAnd the stumbling students huddle like ...

The Uncomplicated Darkness words by Sophie Esther Ramsey illustration by Chelsey Wang I stand knocking behind this door,  nails wedged into one breathless demand: that the pitiless wood keep me inert no more and release me from time’s hands. The cold taught me all I know, paralysing my pleading limbs. ...

Fond of Our Shadow words by Patrick Ignasiakillustration by Chelsey Wang Bite down on the umbilicus, resurrecting the road. Weathered        asphalt reflects the death of birds, and their shadowselongate on: teeth extending beyond the furrowsof your body, just beginning,                  ...

morning commute words by Andrea Perez photo by Sara Qadoumi what a strange and awful thing it is, to stand at the edge of a subway platform. overpriced caffeine in hand, worries in my shoulders, how can I learn to talk to my father? looking up at the flatscreen tv ...

Poet/Mother/Girl words by Zoe Smith Crepp illustration by Maria Vidal Valdespino They diagnosed me As a fantastical wild-whimsied witch— Those who hide behind their lovers In shelters decorated with fancy words of devotion. I’ve craved like they do, But my love poems do not carry the same weight No matter ...

Crossed Cables words by Patrick Ignasiak illustration by Anella Schabler yesterday, nothing quite moved, and yet, sweeping the entire frequency range, well it’s mostly semantics, but curlicues of waveform-buzz seem just to touch lines of sight, and to clarify, let’s just say I’ve made quite the mess of the sugar-phosphate ...

new light-up pink shoes words by Andrea Perezillustration by Cameron Ashley Mom bought them yesterday.glittery shoelaces bounce up and upsidedown every time they hit the hopscotch.my heart is full of vanilla soft serve and glow-in-the-dark pencil crayons.the lights from my shoes dance with the dandelions. the wind changes suddenly and ...

Homecoming words by Marie Kinderman illustration by Maria Vidal Valdespino Last night I went to senior homecoming as a college student. With my mother as my date. We decorated the gymnasium together. Handmade streamers, balloons, twinkle lights, a photo booth. I drew her raffle ticket. Gave her the prize I ...

A Scottish Autumn Wednesday words by Devarya Singhania Under the Scottish August air, bathed in the yellow and tangerine of leaves, she checks the road for puddles, but is left with home’s call—a home she grieves— on Wednesday’s longer eve. Those Indian summers when didi called her pretty and troubled ...