reclaim your voice.
I wear glittering jewels around my neck Though all they remind me of Is the weight of such a sour love A love like rotten cream That curdled long ago Under the heat of your hate Of my innocent wholeness. So determined to break me In order to convince yourself The best cups to drink…
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Featured Image: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay I did not even know I was a binary thinker until I unearthed nuance. I would see people as either good or evil. People were either the best or the absolute worst. I had either bad experiences or good experiences. A person would either like me or simply hate me. Once,…
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Featured Image: Paulo Nicolello They tell us to hold on As if that ever stopped homes from washing away From a rushing flood Or stopped a plane From crashing down to Earth In a blaze of fire and fear. But our wings were sawed-off And we fell from the high Heavens Not in a flurry…
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Featured Illustration: Soufeina Tuffix We are nearing the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Our religious holiday as Muslims is trademarked by dates; the sweet, fleshy fruit that we break our fasts with every evening. With that consumption comes a dirty little secret — many of us are (unknowingly) eating dates that support human…
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Featured Illustrations: Rocío Montoya Body image refers to the way people look at themselves and others. It is correlated to the way one perceives their appearances, the way they see their body in regards to height, shape, and weight, and the way one feels within their body. A positive body image involves truly accepting one’s…
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Featured Image: Tim Mossholder Every day we see social media posts like: “If you’re feeling depressed, message me”, “Please reach out to me whenever you feel like talking”, “If you’re thinking about taking your own life, call me. I am here for you”, and countless others. Likewise, if we ever come to know that somebody…
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Twelve. Age twelve was the first time that I was bullied for the color of my skin. I clearly remember running back home from the bus stop evening after evening, and crying to my mother until all of the energy was drained out of my body. Though I don’t have many memories of my middle…
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Featured Image: Lacie Slezak This birthed body Put upon the library shelf. Fiction or non- The perpetual, rhetorical question. They selected me From the self-help section. Checked me out – The librarian peering over the rim of rosary-red glasses. The first few chapters…
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Featured Image: New Degree Press Debby Nguyen is the author of her debut nonfiction book: Pills, Teas, and Songs, a New York Times-featured poet, and a Pharmacy and Data Science student at Northeastern University. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Briefly discuss Pills, Teas, and Songs: Stories of Medicine Around the World…
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