Written by Luisana Cortez. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – I cannot detach my cousin Ramona from the memories of my flesh. Through the darkness, she surfaces, baring the sun-lit mesh of my childhood: crooked teeth, feral eyes, my lumping chest, the curvature of a rib cage. I blink, and just as the familiar strain of the desert heat hits my […]
Written by Caroline Tsai. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – I am seven years old when I decide to be white. I pester my parents over and over again with the possibility that I might have been adopted – as if I might be able to sever the source of my non-whiteness that way. Upon finally realizing that I am irrevocably, […]
Written by Keesilla Chan. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – There was a knock on the front door. Three taps, quick, quiet, and somewhat familiar. I moved to the front door and opened it. I couldn’t hide the surprise in my greeting, but you didn’t say anything. You walked in before I had even stepped back, already taking off your shoes. […]
Written by London Furr. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – Mother Why can’t you teach me to read? Cravings The water I drink is never clean It’s not fair Modern slave, will I ever be freed? Life is hard My hourglass is ticking Mother Can I sleep in and go to school late? Cravings To be thin, I toss the trash […]
Written by Luke Hernandez. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – I see my life in class As a debate People tearing me in apart in different directions, They are “rational” When I upset them I am “emotional” Playing with the idea of power within a powerful institution Yet when I, just a voice, defend myself My life I am scorned, broke […]
Written by Jake Costello. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – Rain falls with the ticking of a distant clock: the hour hand with the winds, the minute hand with the claps of thunder, the second hand with each droplet that falls. Ominous clouds raise from beyond the horizon, with them a million and million more of their little fellows, ready for […]
Written by Ryan Mata. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – So far I have done a simple service to my memories, and that is to remember them. But I haven’t remembered so much as I have “just managed” to not forget. When I look in my own eyes I think, “I am a passenger in this journey, but a driver in […]
Written by Mary Jo Gould. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – Challenge. It seems to always be the topic of discussion Almost to the point it gives me a concussion. I have never climbed a mountain, Never been skinny dipping in a fountain. There are no obstacles for me to overcome. Unless you consider where I have come. The challenge that […]
Written by Toni Bonvillain. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – My therapist once told me “success is in the baby-steps,” so on those days when you feel too numb to move, just get out of bed. That would be enough. The start of something is still something even if you never see the end, so remember that you are alive, and […]
Written by Caroline Rock. Graphic by Emma Robinson. – On a night when you can’t seem to think straight Tears wash away a layer of your face Revealing someone you thought you’d outgrown To show you for, maybe, the person you really are A girl Trying to grow up Crawling in your own skin each day Until finally you can’t […]
Written by Shini Meyer Wang. Graphic by René Magritte, Golconde (1953). – their separations exact a rising or falling echelon plotted on a triple axis world their expressions placid faces emptied like the people on subway trains who carry a sacred anonymity mornings I crack open my kitchen window to breathe or to be greeted by the rows of windows […]
Written by Allison McCarty. Graphic by Peyton Cabaniss. Originally published as part of the Spring 2019 “Challenge” Issue.– Months. Weeks. Days. Hours. Minutes. It usually comes down to minutes. Assignments, papers, tests, they’re all posted months in advance. The dates on the syllabus are distant, almost inconceivable. No need to think about it, there’s plenty of time. Write it on the […]
Written by Shini Meyer Wang. Graphic by Peyton Cabaniss. Originally published as part of the Spring 2019 “Challenge” Issue.– threads of smoke from the ether unravel down the sky it is that tin-can shuttle rubble hurtling across America’s TV boxes the space voyager “Challenger” a reverie turned fireball our frontier is beyond the fishbowl beyond the scorch of atmosphere that […]
Written by Gabriela Camarena. Graphic by Peyton Cabaniss. Originally published as part of the Spring 2019 “Challenge” Issue.– **Content Warning: Sexual Assault** I saw a woman on the news, Her stance was bold and strong. She spoke the words we know are true, But still they say she’s wrong. I saw a woman on the news, Different than she before, […]
Written by Caroline Tsai. Graphic by Peyton Cabaniss. Originally published as part of the Spring 2019 “Challenge” Issue. – I remember what the hallways smell like – “Like where dreams come to die,” my ex-boyfriend said when he came to visit me the first time I was in there. I remember that the walls are white, but not a clean […]
Written by Monica Hand. Graphic by Peyton Cabaniss. Honorable Mention in the Spring 2019 Creative Competition, “Challenge.” – The hardest thing you will ever do is love her. Though you pine to love her the way she needs, With an unconditional, forgiving fury. It’s not easy- you know that. She knows that. You tell her it’s her fault you can’t […]
