Author: Editor Team

by Emily Kirpach I’ve been craving a road trip recently. Not just a three-hour drive to see my family, but something new and exciting. I decided on somewhere in Washington, seeing as I’m a broke college student. I researched quiet coastal towns within a few hours with good coffee and settled on Whidbey Island. I…

by Julie Green There were times, much like the present, in carved-out valleys and beaming, sage-covered hills, where emerald rows of layered trees blossomed with the brood of the annual harvest: apples, cherries, and pears. The land was rich with these crops along the glossy ripples of Lake Entiat. The lake was then, as it…

By Alyanna Ayala

by Devyn Rainwater  The night I came out to my mom as a lesbian, something warm was cooking on the stove; smells of beef and garlic filled the house the way they always did. I was eleven years old, sitting behind the kitchen island, my legs swinging. I tried to act naturally while pretending to watch…

Sebastien Boles  一歩ではほどけ靴紐落ちさせた灰から上げて回生できるIppo dewa Hodoke kutsuhimo OchisasetaHai kara Agete Kaisei dekiruAn untied shoelace makes you fallRise from the ash and be reborn信じれば，太陽が燃え褒めるなら，月が輝き変化参るShinjireba, taiyou ga moeHomeru nara, tsuki ga kagayakiHenka mairuIf you believe, the sun burnsIf you praise, the moon shinesChange comes落ち枝葉季節変わらず青い空，再生の木は新たな始めOchi edabaKisetsu kawarazuAoi sora, saisei no ki waAratana hajimeFallen branches and leavesThe seasons don’t changeThe…

Brenda Juarez Marigolds heal both skin and spirit,they mend what’s seen and unseen.The fevered skin, burning to the touch,the aching wound the soul carries. Soft and warm petals against the skin,their scent is spicy and herbal,like Abuela’s tea in the early morning. Extracted drops from sun petalshelp the burns and wounds to close gently.Bright petals…

Brenda Juarez   They tell me,go back to where you came from. But my roots don’t stay put.They slip under cities, under fences,sliding through the dark. My ancestors whisper underground,soft as spores. They bloom in the flowers that carry my face,in the words I keep saying. Still I grow,small, stubborn, alive.A Honey Fungus creeping through silence,turning…

Mady Eason Konnichiwas, eyes taped back, surveyed by scum.A barbed onrush pilgrimages like an extracurricular,repeating with a cruel grin–no, where are you really from? Sticky heat intervenes attention–a fly in molasses,sparse foliage the only available asylum. Queues snake andtwine–promises of cool drinks root feet to pavement. Administrations bludgeon elders, turn backs as they abandon the…

Mackenzie Warwick  They taught her young the language first:Cold steel. Sharp skates. Split skin.A rink rimmed bright with frozen lightWhere wars are sworn to win. Her skates were vows cut into bone.Her stick a honed and hungry blade.She learned to stand where bodies fellAnd never beg for aid. She learned to tape her wrists too…

Olene’ Togiailua  In the haze of laborI was found by a kindred spirit.She grounded me, evoking fellowshipsof the past. She wound up and down the beaten path,sojourner towards truth on a shoestring budget.She reminded me of our first encounter.Years ago, she sat as I spoke of Bedlam & SqualorArising out of the mire to let…