Sophia M. Giudici __________ Tattoos Some of us grow upTo make our bodies coloring books—Stories marking warm skin. __________ Playing Dress Up Why are children the only ones allowedto dress up in every color of their dreams?They come outside on Saturday morningsstill vested in the vestiges of sleepTrain pajamas topped…
Read MoreAlicia Cook __________ The Widow in the Window The Widow in the window watchedthe sea-town home across the streetlose its weather-torn For Sale sign. Moving vans curbed and unloaded innocuousclues like a beige couch and an upright piano. The Widow in the window watchedas newlyweds crossed the threshold.She remembered her…
Read MorePaula Cisewski __________ Red Poem In the fenced tennis courts, a woman rollerdiscos solo, weaving between green nets on fuchsiaskates. Meanwhile, an upside-down flag hangsfrom one bungalow and an upside-right flag hangs from the next. This neighborhood we call our own.I’m home slicing radishes into a bowlwhich is a version…
Read MoreThe Second Law of Thermodynamics Shweta Ravi __________ Like the man in the video game, you wonder if you’re being busy, intelligent or foolish. OnSundays, you rinse Mahira’s white school sneakers in vinegar and sunlight before inclining them on the porch like poodles waiting to be tethered. On Mondays you…
Read MoreLinda McMullen __________ Banner Days Prom night, aged 17: the surreptitious banner, half-crouching behind a fake fig tree, read “Enchanted Garden”. I was The Lady in Red. You blushed, and asked me to dance – and I cocked my head to the side, scrambling to recollect. Were you the scullion…
Read MoreMy Med School OSCE Christine Benton Criswell __________ I knew I was in for it when Allen came out of the exam room. He looked pained. “It was awful,” he said. “All I can say is … good luck.” We were participating in our medical school OSCE—the Objective Structured ClinicalExam.…
Read MoreKaleidoscopes, Sep ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing/Guest Editor: Taryn White Associate Editor: Leah Joseph Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess and Jade Turner Intern: Margaret Brantley David Sheskin, “Fish Kaleidoscope 65”, digital Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Taryn White Fiction “My Med…
Read MoreRetro Summer, Aug ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Guest Editor: Ume Aiman Tariq Managing Editor: Taryn White Associate Editor: Leah Joseph Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess and Jade Turner Intern: Margaret Brantley Jay Edge, “Causeway Bridge from the Marina,” charcoal on paper Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter…
Read MoreLetter from the Editor Vallie Lynn Watson __________ Because I’ve never really left school, summer, to me, is the pause of school, the lack of school, the time to take a deep breath before the return to school but, nonetheless, permanently connected to school, and I’m thrilled that we’re releasing…
Read MoreLetter from the Guest Editor Ume Aiman Tariq __________ I came up with the idea of doing a Retro Summer issue a year ago. At the time, I was contemplative and nostalgic about the summer experiences that I had growing up in Pakistan. We slept in until noon and usually…
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