by Parivash Goff
Oh! How much she wanted from this, Rapinoe’s final home game. It meant something, Rapinoe’s exit finally bringing her back to the city post-Covid. It had been heart sucking to leave those years ago, that dream job, dream coworkers, dream air. The change was meant to benefit her son, but sometimes, languishing in the parched desert land where she had always felt like an outsider, she doubted her choices.
Scream: Unbecoming
Illustration by Jill Kimura Scream: Unbecoming by Sonia Chintha Dear Readers, I started the theme of this issue with a list of things I wanted
Free Woman: Has Become
Illustration by Allie Olivares Free Woman: Has Become by Sonia Chintha “Do you want to try to have kids again?” Dr. Jenson asked.“No.” A weight
The Boy Who Drew Animals
Illustration by Allie Olivares The Boy Who Drew Animals by Celeste Bloom There was once a boy who drew animalsto prove he had a soul.
ladylike
Illustration by Allie Olivares ladylike by Abigail Hawk I rebelled against cotillionits white lace white gloves white tablecloths little white lies big white faces its
Holy Hour
Illustration by Deema Alawa Holy Hour by Sonia Chintha Carrie is a crimson cardinala bird blindly believing,the tropes and cliches:female birdsmama birdsgirl birds bird birdsthey
Gentle Broken Heart
Illustration by Allie Olivares Gentle Broken Heart by Grace Peeler Gentle Broken Heart Sadness has a purpose –Sadness is a gift,Sadness can be a slower,
Bangs
Illustration by Allie Olivares Bangs by Melani Dhason Long, layered, subtly highlighted with soft tousled waves, and the source of my confidence for the majority
Unbecoming
Illustration by Allie Olivares Unbecoming by Emma Strauss For New Years I’ve decided – or it has been decided for me – that I will
Has Set Me Free
Illustration by Deema Alawa Has Set Me Free by Susan Chung Un – prefix Become – verb ing – suffix When did you find out
Brown girl, fragile by Sonia Chintha
I swim in the clear soup of your fragility
A backstroke that inevitably feels like drowning
grasping at air, I inhale large waves of broth
eyes burn, lungs fill
The word “white” trips you, hurts you, others you
Yes,
Is all I can muster
White does hurt
White does other
White does
Scream: Who is: Woman
Illustration by Jill Kimura Scream: Who is: Woman by Sonia Chintha “Who is: Woman” has been a labor of resilience. This issue comes in the
The Little Girl and Her Ghost
Illustration by Deema Alawa The Little Girl and Her Ghost by Celeste Bloom She was seven years old the first time goosebumps prickled her skin
the mOOn is a wOman
Illustration by Jill Kimura the mOOn is a wOman by Abigail Hawk ancient greeks believed the mOOn’s dark places were core-deep seas,and they named themmarias. god
Jaya Shoma Khallee
Illustration by Deema Alawa Jaya Shoma Khallee* by Parivash Fahim Goff I give in to the sun baked sand, sink down against the smooth log
Na illu
I went here and there all in one day, an endless hunt for more and have come back home. Home where the scent of steamed
Sweet Molasses
In the syrupy pool of twisted lies, we are toys that stick to every surface Although on the Inside we are independent, healthy, most important
Democracy, Compromised
Democracy, Compromised Inside this cave they say no one can see me but next to me is an army of warrioresses preparing for battle in
Plan B
Plan B I swallow hard, surprised by the melancholy that fills me. Side effects include nausea, headache, fatigue, breast tenderness the label spits at me.