sometime i call him in the tongue of his mother how can the son not love what beget him what sorrows can he forget at the breast what nurture does my heart hold when love is heavy on tongues like honey sticky and sweet god, i wish he’d call Aneesah Shealey is a writer based…
Read MoreWet Bodies by Ebony Gilchrist
Wet bodies I rejoice for a moment, a singing Seraphim in the rain, weighed down by slick feathers. Autonomy lost for a moment; but, the promise of flight is just enough for the mind to command the throat to open A carousel of sound- instinctive animal- claws out. My body, unrecognizable. I am somewhere close, …
Read MoreTwo Poems by Dynas Johnson
when we cook breakfast together, i forget that i’m supposed to be sad cheeks stuffed with rice and eggs plastic masks long laid out to be recycled the smile you give me is a moon made from a sugar cookie nibbling the edges of the constellations we’ve been sowing into our garden for…
Read MoreHis Triumphant Entry: A day to remember by Kayode Adedoyin
HIS TRIUMPHANT ENTRY : A DAY TO REMEMBER. The sky is the best place to find answers… _Adedoyin kayode. I have been in the business of interrogating the sky for introducing darkness which hid his face & made me vulnerable. Everytime my son ask me about his father, I tell him to wait till night…
Read MoreThe Unfamiliar Adulthood by Liswindio Apendicaesar
Adolescence passes swiftly through the window of the house in the morning, and I wake up only to find out that I have missed the love of my life, or the joy I once took for granted. I don’t know what kind of future life may hold for me while the emptiness is filling the…
Read MoreShe. Her. Me. by Zion McThomas
She. Her. Me. I rarely ever saw my mother cry. She cried when my father passed She cried when my brother made her upset Disrespectful behavior makes her uneasy Maybe because disrespect comes to her with ease. As a Black woman, she’s always fighting. Fighting for fairness; fighting for space; fighting for rest; fighting for…
Read MoreThe Dream Police by Justin Finley
The Dream Police I saw what happened to black and brown My dream of a shiny badge evaporated with the tears on the ground How ironic, a darkness that is afraid of the shadow I cast A sword that fears the sting of paper cuts and glass Of all of the monsters dreamed up in…
Read MoreTwo Poems by Arsimmer McCoy
Romancing Delusions of Grandeur It makes me very sad to know, I may still be in love with you tomorrow. I’m in love with you way past reasoning. I’m in love all the way. I’m in that kind of love that sees blood and calls it sacrifice. Steeped so deep into this hallucination, I assimilate…
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(Issue 4) Poetry Feature: JAY MAZYCK
JAY MAZYCK (He/Him) is a Black queer creative from Brooklyn, NY. He is currently receiving BFA acting training at Rutgers University. He starred in the Off-Broadway production of Chisa Hutchinson’s Surely Goodness and Mercy (Keen Company) as well as Michelle Tyrene Johnson’s radio play Buried Roots. A reading of his first full length play, MAD,…
Read Morenote: I must consult my ancestors by Sojourner Brown
Sojourner Brown is an actor, poet, and singer based in Brooklyn, NY. As a performer, Sojourner spent the past two years working for Walt Disney records as a recording artist, and her work has been seen on Disney Channel, Freeform, and on the Incredibles 2 soundtrack. As a writer, Sojourner released her spoken word film, your…
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