Mimi Mutesa Deep in the earth Under dirt and falsehoods We waited For our mothers For our Fathers For light We could smell rain seeping through The warmth of the sun And the stale air of time passing Just out of reach We screamed While you prayed You thanked your god for the land you live on … Read moreThe Earth Keepers By Ariel Perez
Mixed is a dirty word. A constant reminder of two separate things forced together. A bastardization of purity. Did you know you split me in half every time you utter that word? Disoriented Essence/less I have to ask myself Which part of me was thrown in First? Diaspora or kinship Kinky hair/light skin Better yet … Read moreDirty Words by Vincente Perez
When Brown Dad dies, I will have debt because he spent his life accumulating it never knowing how to pay it back. The degrees I have earned were paid for with his money because “Lolo paid for mine. This is how I pay him back.” The Rolex on my wrist was his hand-me-down because he … Read moreRunning a Tab by Christian Hanz Lozada
Every time you place your hope in the upper shelf of the closet, there will be a crash. They say a metal must break to avoid death so you will let your heart bare open until it begins to bleed, only to convince you hearts don’t shatter like a ceiling hearts, they ooze out a … Read moreHopes I Thought I Threw Away by Anushka Srivastava
I stare out the window of my second floor apartment, feel such an insignificant and nebulous thing. Trapped in blackness, my passions garble and wilt. Inside the glass, reflections crack open its own cynical chant. Screw you, girl. Eye lids red and swollen, I can’t leave even if I wanted to. I’m infected, have no … Read moreBare Bulbs and Salty Tears by Juanita Rey
Illustration by Mimi Mutesa @mimimutesa Two celestial bodies would meet— Saturn and Jupiter. Two globes of gas in orbit, each a storm in its own. An unfathomable rush of dust, an illusory presence. So much emptiness between those whirls I could swallow you whole. Two skulls kiss in the darkness. A clatter of teeth like … Read moreThe Great Conjunction by Sean Wang
Illustration by Mimi Mutesa @mimimutesa a golden shovel poem after Terrence Hayes She reaches for her sparkly gloves and lays them out on her bed, declaring, “I don’t know what I am if I’m not a woman.” She muses, “You see a bed is not a luxury we’re all afforded. So I dress up even … Read moreMarsha P. Johnson Visits Me as I Dream by Pam R. Johnson Davis
Illustration by Mimi Mutesa @mimimutesa Here, skin is not the only outer covering, there is grief too, an inextinguishable fire. Whenever my sister left for the stream, Mum would return to the skins of her ancestors and swallow all the testament of dust. She would pierce her throat with all the prayers that couldn’t breathe … Read morePounded Yams and Ground Bones by Adamu Yahuza Abdullah
Illustration by Mimi Mutesa @mimimutesa Moved around from place to place I’m assuming I’m not welcome Not here nor there nor anywhere Tears springing from my eyes like youthful tulips in the early spring Maybe even flowers spring with pain, growing pains Happen to everyone, I’ve noticed. Wells form, I’ve discovered two Naturally saltwater wells … Read moreAn Ode to Natural Migration by Louise Kim
Illustration by Mimi Mutesa @mimimutesa I have got two feet, flat like that of my father, not at all ladylike. Aquarius feet, they dangle by the edge of the lake. It is sacred feet on some days, worshiped during puja, they wash my feet with cold water, clean my toes, bend and touch my feet, … Read moreWater Feet by Paridhi Poddar