
Sisters
Precious, Rose Horell TW: Child Abuse I. “Do you think I’d look good as a blonde?” I ask my sister Cassandria as we sit in parallel spa chairs at Grace’s Nail…
Precious, Rose Horell TW: Child Abuse I. “Do you think I’d look good as a blonde?” I ask my sister Cassandria as we sit in parallel spa chairs at Grace’s Nail…
Behaviorism, Arjun Saatia TW: Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse I loved when my father explained his tattoos to me. I’d stare wide-eyed and mystified at the letters scrawling…
“junior year prom, mom had to unzip my dress because i was having a panic attack and couldn’t breathe”, Evelyn Staats TW: Eating Disorder The women of Mitski’s songs are…
Skyhopping, Alessia Potovsky Something about the hissing of the onions, scallions, garlic, and country pepper no – scotch bonnet, it’s scotch bonnet pepper here. Something about the hissing of the onions,…
Forbidden, Meghan Bauman I had this dream once that felt like it had been stripped from an indie Halloween movie: exposed brick walls, threadbare fear scattered across the floor like breadcrumbs,…
Opulent, Taharah Islam Step 1. Massage product into scalp and rinse thoroughly. Recall what she taught you about the Roman funeral: how it was the only time in antiquity that a…
Rose-Covered Glasses, Margaret Wright My Grandmother’s diary entry for September 8, 1943 reads: “Italy surrendered. Permed my hair.” Growing up, I spent most of my time with her, our houses…
Poppies and WD-40, Chloe Moulin I remember when Julia and I hopped a wall by the river to recreate her parents’ wedding day. The only thing between us and that convent…
The Complexity of Detail, Olivia Offutt I found the tense of life in my college French 102 class that I took because everyone I knew was in Spanish and French…
Immersed, Abigail Nasar Mami… todos son gringos. You arrive. Take in the brick buildings decorated by fresh-cut grass and towering trees before you take in how much heavier your skin…
Captive, Cynthia Lee My parents and I have spent all day at Boston Children’s Hospital. I’m not sick, but you wouldn’t know that from their reactions. I run off to watch…
Karla with Candle, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Samantha Metzner When I was in fifth grade, I asked my mom if I could start shaving my legs. There was no real need for this—I…
Talking Dead, Amanda Stephen “Dios te salve Maria, llena eres de gracia. El Señor esta contigo. Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre:…
Defense Mechanism 3, Elizabeth Ellenwood Picture these personal prompts like reporters, microphones to my face, asking me, So what do you do? What do you want from life? Over…
Grandma’s Cupcake Stand, Jessica Ashworth When my children think back to the mother of their childhood, what will come to mind? Smiling in the kitchen, the stereo plays mommy lullabies…
Portrait of a Friend, Noah Bavonese I believe in being Haitian. Haiti has always been looked at as poor and dirty because it is a place where everyone takes from…
Do You See It, Mommy?, Hannah Elizabeth High I. Back then we were just bodies. We would watch Cosmos on Netflix and wrestle on the couch, knocking over empty beer…
After the Impact, Sarena Pollock Walking up to the house had been strange, perhaps even suspicious. The building was a two-story monument to the cotton-picking genocide of days supposedly gone…
All for One, Ella Van Haren “What’s something you like about yourself?” My counselor sat across from me in her office, leaning in so far her brunette bob pitched into…
Pins and Needles, Kamron Williams In 1987, my mommy and papi met through God. My mommy was seventeen, spreading the love of Jesus Christ in Chapopote, a remote village on the…
Illuminated, Ava Fojtik In the summer, I would sit on my porch under the cherry tree in my backyard, as my grandmother and mother tried to tame my hair with…
Warped, Rachel Donohue my mother never made me blackberry pie, she wanted me to know how to make it myself, so that i could quench my own thirst as i…