Ricegay Joefel Bolo __________ So my parents are farmers. They carry the rice, roughly as producer, then us who consume. Seeing, to feel the dirt talking. Notice and virgin, rice husk, extract the rice from its golden shell and itchiness. I consumed cups, or in another strange distance, a scope…
Read MoreI Stop Trusting Saint Anthony When, Prayer for Another Hurricane Season from Afar, & Here Come the Girls Stacey Balkun __________ I Stop Trusting Saint Antony When a wave knocks your dad’s Ray Bansinto the surf and they never resurface despite our haphazard prayers.I steeple my sunburned hands around a…
Read MoreThere Were Signs Jazmine Becerra Green __________ There Were Signs I. I went out to dinnerwith a guy once. Justdinner and check, noother plans. He droveme toward my singleapartment, ticking offthings we could do topostpone goodnight. Itold him the HomeDepot on Sunset wasopen late. I imaginedpulling paint chips inRed Willow,…
Read MorePride, June ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Guest Editor: Robbie Hess Managing Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Leah Joseph, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Deborah Chava Singer, “Rainbow Blossoms,” Digital Artwork Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Robbie Hess…
Read MoreA Big Red Island Christine H. Chen __________ Behind the carved mahogany table Tang tai-tai the matchmaker scanned the girl up and down before telling her to sit with a tone that cut short any form of protest. Tang tai-tai squinted behind her thick tortoise shell glasses as if to…
Read MoreIn the Strawberry Mountains Sam Olson __________ Grandmother, I know you don’t read the newsany longer, but in case you heard, it’s true–they want to send 30,000 peopleto a camp called Gitmo. Campingis what we did come June. I was a camper,once, then a counselor. Find a holeon a creek?…
Read MoreLogical Preposition A. J. Bermudez __________ I am often apologizing to my international students.Why, they want to know, are we in a classroom, at a university, on a campus?Why in a chair, at a desk, on the board? What is it to be near / below / beyond / apart…
Read MoreFoods of All Nations Shalmi Barman __________ November 6th, 2024 I never feel so expertly from hereas in the dairy aisle at 8 AM,pajama-clad, insouciantly unwashed,comparing flavored yogurts. Empires fallupon the price of eggs while we delay,exchanging greetings by the sourdoughas neighbors should. And have you heard the news?The soup…
Read MoreCabin Fever*** Edward Baranosky __________ 1In a snowstorm the last certaintiesDisappear, clinging to the pale moonrise, The edges of fir, spruce, and birchBlending with the lost horizon– The mackerel sky closes in,Where imagination is your only confidante And dreams have found your epitaph,The petrified light in winter silence. 2You found…
Read MoreNormal Makena Metz __________ Everything returns to stasisin time. Life goes on, the sun risesand falls, and I am lostin a sea of normal. Eat dinner, go to sleep, wake up, walk the dog.Normal is uncomfortable, unnatural.After everything- I don’t want tohave to go on. No one told me that…
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