Looking Inward: Our Self Portraits
Photo by Niko Navalta By Niko Navalta, Aidan Hurley, Rosie Lopolito, Angie Shenouda, Brigita Przybylski, Kleigh Balugo, Tracy Fuentes A self portrait is often a clear indication of how an artist perceives themselves. In the spirit of alone, we asked contributors to create self portraits that represent their relationship with themselves when no one else…
betta fish
Photo by Angie Shenouda By Angie Shenouda when i was 7 my dad brought home a little blue friend who floated inside a cup no bigger than my palm. he was angelic, a wave of delicate indigo dancing around his body. he hovered, eyes dull, the once colorful world warped and blurry behind a thin…
without central heating
Photo by Angie Shenouda By Angie Shenouda i’m used to layers and layers of blankets, a rainbow to burrow underneath until the quivering fades, or until i fall into a dream. snooze buttons abused, resisting the inevitable unraveling of myself into the sharp shivers of the morning. i’m best friends with the way my feet…
Best Of 2022 Scrapbook
By Madison Kleinrock-Andrews, Ryland McGinniss, Lianelys Cabrera, Angie Shenouda, Tracy Fuentes, Kleigh Balugo (in order of appearance) At the start of 2021, Kindergarten contributors shared their favorite moments of 2020 in the form of a scrapbook. In honor of 2022 drawing to a close and Kindergarten’s 2nd anniversary, contributors both new and returning looked back…
widow’s peak
Photo by Angie Shenouda By Angie Shenouda Monday i take a razor to the top of my forehead where the uppermost part of me meets in the shape of a V and the blade lingers above the valley of my worry and with waterfall eyes i flick my wrist and watch dark hairs land on…
forbidden cotton candy
Photo by Angie Shenouda By Angie Shenouda when i was seven i put my lunch where my colored pencils should goon smooth fabric alex the lion roared &sat underneath crayons and crinkled worksheets and candy wrappersuntil summertime.when white fuzz smiled around the corners I knew something was wrongwithout even looking inside i didn’t remember packing…
14 hours away
Photo by Lianelys Cabrera By Angie Shenouda in a little while, the trees around you will turn golden. rain will kiss the ground outside & you’ll study inside your apartment, hot chocolate on your tongue. and i’ll be in my hometown, a place i’ve never lived before, underneath the sun. my knuckles will smile as…
What Pixar’s “Soul” Taught 20-Year-Old Me
Photo by Angie Shenouda By Angie Shenouda ** Warning: Spoilers ahead! ** “All the times I’ve been so close to getting to my dreams. – something always gets in the way.” – Joe Gardner, Pixar’s Soul If you’re anything like me, you’ve sometimes felt like the world has been playing a massive prank on you. These…
The Dreamland Playlist
Zzzz… This month’s playlist is in honor of hitting the snooze button and floating off to dreamland. Don’t let the bed bugs bite. Listen to the playlist here Lianelys Cabrera “Still Dreaming” by Raveena If there’s something dreamy in this world, that is Raveena’s voice, especially in this song because of all the simplistic but…
A Trip to Dreamland
Photo by Tracy Fuentes For this month, we wanted to take our readers to Dreamland. Dreams are quite important in our lives, as we experience them nightly for hours at a time. Here Kindergarten contributors explore some of their dreams – the good, the bad, and the in-between. Tracy Fuentes Unfortunately, my recurring dreams are…
past lives
Photo by Angie Shenouda By Angie Shenouda the tug of unbrushed hair in the wind, missing tooth smiles, laughs with glimpses of black tongues from licking powerpuff girl popsicles with gumballs for eyes- wide eyes, smooth skin, the neighbors dog barking, driveway gravel crunch nipping feet under worn out sneakers, sweet whiffs of laundry from…
seed cemetery
Photo by Angie Shenouda By Angie Shenouda in the early mourning of the wake he snuggles two fingers into the damp earth where he lies his head and heart to rest in a field of faux goodbyes and promises unspoken- a burial ground- he lowers the casket full of seeds, nothing but damp soil for…
who i’d like to trade places with (in no particular order)
Photo by Angie Shenouda By Angie Shenouda the mother at the self checkout line next to me with chocolate milk in her cart the baby poisonous scorpion i found under my bed and almost stepped on last summer the man we saw on the way home selling bundles of pastel flowers with his wife the…
where dandelions grow
Photo by Lianelys Cabrera By Angie Shenouda i roll out of bed before 1pm and water my plants for the first time in months i throw away a dozen empty water bottles and free the floor of dirty laundry i roll open the bathroom drawer and throw away six flattened crest tubes i told myself…
Kindergarten 