Volume 10

November 2023 - December 2023

“It is bad luck to open an oyster before it is fully grown, to pluck its pearl with bare hands, but still”

— Jeniya Mard, The son of Lina Marcela Medina de Jurado

“[MEATSUIT STATUS MESSAGE: MIGRAINE LEVEL 2… SECTOR 1… COGNITIVE OPERATION AT 80%]

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— Elyssa Tappero, Meatsuit Error

“To burrow deep for the cause of pain when the hurt can be traced back not to a muscle but a memory”

— L.M. Cole, Relaxing

“Embedded amidst this monotony, the flowers in the backdrop offer a glimpse into a different perspective, where I yearn for even the faintest glimmer of happiness”

— Eugenie Kwon, Overwhelming

“In truth, invisible disabilities are treated like casual disabilities; half-disabilities; disabilities-lite. Coworkers will still have some laughs at your expense, family can scramble up their sentences on purpose just to see what you'll do”

— A. Jenson, Sweet Nothings

“Look at the garden you white people
breathe in. Smelling my cousin’s newborn head before the guillotine. You haunt with a deaf ear.”

— Joshua Merchant, After Birth

“I am not above the thirty-percent effectiveness of placebos. I am not above imagination with no purpose, value, or voice.”

— Breia Gore, Breakup Poem #7

“Constant anxiety performing loyal service on a sinking ship.”

— Brenda Mox, HAD NO MEMORIES

“I am encased in an unspooling ball of yarns, a pleasant shock for the long time no see.”

— Luke Bateman, Mother Beard

“My abstraction is the only thing I wish to decode.”

— Sushant Thapa, Acting Alone

“Air-sick son, from shoulder-blade you carved wings, mistook lightheadedness for flight.”

— iris nguyễn, Icarus walks

“I’ve been present for the scarring of yards of this skin.”

— A. Jenson, Birthday

“Like she were manifesting something familiar and universal which we as yet could only describe theoretically in the abstract.”

— Jerome Berglund, Discharge

“What does it mean to make a snail into a slug? To break its homely shelter from the rain?”

— Juliet Phraser, Footpath Snails

“Girls within their tattered frames flirt with the potent young man hiding behind my time-marked mask.”

— Nolo Segundo, On The Way To The Ballet

“You wake up with 35 spoons. What will you decide to accomplish in a day?”

— Audrey Carroll, Spoon Theory: A Game

“The house next to mine is rented out. I should feel claustrophobic with neighbors in such proximity to me, the solid roof curving above my head, displaying a seatbelt sign and buttons. Instead, I feel at peace.”

— Felicia Change, Seat 18A