A poem by Rachna Shah i. born Sweat gathers upon brow, opal-shaped teardrops exerted Minutes trickle downward, agony-filled moments A pinch of pain, then a roar of pandemonium erupts Birthed is a wrinkly creature, blood-covered body ii. childhood The world is carved from dreams of tarts and sweets, She spends hours upon the ice, tracing images with plump figures Wobbling upon the creaking … Continue reading atlas hands
A piece of art by Liz Stewart & poetry by Sofia Sears there swim cyclical bodies in me my joints, cells, cramped inside; do my arms flail? there are planets inhabiting my being. there are novas. there is no room for you right now. I explode everyday. Continue reading sorry about the doom
A poem + art I still look for you in the lapse between thunder and lightning. It’s always nothing when I stop to listen. I still search for you in the fog by the pier. I search for love in the ashes of old arguments. Do you look through your old journals for me? Do you remember me in fading words? Maybe I’m … Continue reading skins
art and poetry by Shannon King; you can find more of her work here hike through windy paths (death) depths of consciousness triggers are jokes (except for when I’m shaking) brain recoils at my body’s dispense wrinkled creases permanency (frown lines) botox my mind where it should be Continue reading trigger warnings
A sonnet by Peter Stern Listen, and soft waves of glass tear pink flesh, A diluted garland wishes to fly, She holds idle as pain’d salty tears thresh, They fill her ears: spirits ask her to die. A maiden travels down a screaming brook, Her crack’d palms reach for a blue salvation, Of our hearts, sin ‘twas the only shard she took, Must we … Continue reading Treading Water
A slam poem by Perry Mayo Wabi sabi: a free style Let’s talk wabi sabi. Sabi- a mindset, aesthetic of the Japs Ain’t nothing perfect bout this world, this body or this rap Wars are raging, lives at stake Boys wield guns, girls seem free to take This earth is divided by language and belief There’s no time to reconnect, to help or send relief … Continue reading wabi sabi
Disappointment smells like the burnt edges of the books in Fahrenheit 451 The city becomes too small at night. The world will close in and curtains must be drawn The shadows will not go. I will hold myself into anything; abyss solitude emptiness I will carry myself through hell but it will not be beautiful The sun still rises and people … Continue reading shrinking girl
An anonymous poem Six a.m. We lie, lying on these zero-slopes, lying to ourselves Unencumbered by the light that forces us to face eternal gloom, we zoom- Out of reality, leaving it a speck, horrifyingly tangible yet so far down repressed: Like a spring it will take rise, but relish as we must the intermediary time. We ourselves are poisoned, poisoned by our beds to … Continue reading six am
An anonymous submission/poem I cut it out of me I cut it out and I didn’t look down I didn’t speak nor did I change my mind It was done Infinitely, deliberately, beautiful It was gone Out of me, you are You small bump of human suffering I saved you from this hellhole A universe of female bodies being legislated Where my humanity shreds itself … Continue reading goodbyes like these
A poem by Danae Kawamoto A girl once believed she’d soar with her dreams. Unencumbered, desire carried her heart. As her mind ripened, so did savage screams, Of the beasts that tear conviction apart. Beneath fractured smiles, minds confine the new, Remaining, solely fragments left behind. Escaping the dark, she aims to pursue Freedom, the single drug that cures the blind. Helpless, a wasted drop … Continue reading observe
The Odyssey Zine 