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…
A Superficial Family: Two Poems
Photo by Brigita Przybylski By Brigita Przybylski Setting Fire to the Family Tree I’ve never learned how to love myself More than I was told to love anyone else And I’m doing alright now, I know I’m surrounded by my mother’s lies I turn away from the anger in my father’s eyes When I started…
July 23, 2022
Photo by Leili Najmabadi By Leili Najmabadi Lately I can’t stand the motorized, not the highway traffic alongside the walking trail and not the sound of drilling first thing in the morning. Keeping a person’s spirit alive before they are gone comes with stuffy air, untouched cafeteria food, and frequent diaper changes. If we are…
Elephante King: A Patchwork of Rock Sub-Genre
Photo by Ian Watson By Vlada Stark The back of 11th Street Records is filled to the brim with shuffling bodies, and the atmosphere is sticky with sweat from the exhaustion of three sets already being played. The air had become too heavy to breathe in comfortably, and my friends, just as drained as I…
Matriline
Photo by Julianna Reidell By Julianna Reidell Great-Great-Great Grandmother: Egy bones bled, skin seeped, a soul slipped from cracked lips: And she passed, leaving kettő to carry her name — but not her story — over the sea. Great-Great Grandmother: Kettő fled like a fairy tale, for stepmother’s pinches can’t reach across the atlantic from…
The Hereditary Playlist
Music is one of the best things to be passed down. For this month’s playlist, we shared songs recommended to us by the people we love. Listen to the playlist here Kleigh Balugo “First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes A while ago, my boyfriend Eryn made me an 11 hour playlist consisting of…
La Virgen del Sacrificio
Photo by Elvira Castillo By Elvira Castillo My installation focuses on the exploration of memory through the experience of a brown, first-generation, Bolivian American woman. While honoring the women that came before me, along with their struggles, sacrifice, and successes, I navigate through the disconnection I felt throughout my childhood and young adult life. By reflecting on…
Playhouse Disney
Photo by Kleigh Balugo By Sinclair Adams In the mid 2000sWhen I was 6I’d wake up at 7And tap mom’s arm to wake her upI’d ask her if I can go watch TV in the living room The squat gray cube would lightBleeding bright blues and greens and redsFriendly faces greeting me goodmorningWhile dad gets…
The World We Constructed
Photo by Emma Tolliver By Emma Tolliver My piece, a mixed-media piece utilizing photography, wood, vinyl fabric, gouache paint, zip-ties, and yarn, is about my identity as the daughter of immigrants. When my 할아버지 (romanization: harabeoji, Korean for “Grandpa”) immigrated to the United States, he was fleeing a traumatic situation. He built a koi pond…
Bedroom Lullaby
Photo by Aidan Hurley By Aidan Hurley There’s this little girlShe infests my dreamsShe has a queen-size bedBugs crawl between the seams Pictures on the wallBut they’re not of herPlaces in magazinesFor when she sees the world But she has no planI don’t think she’ll leaveA dusty porcelain dollShe’s barely moved for weeks Take down…
Cate Belmont on Self-Sabotage and Her Single “Make It Hurt”
Photo courtesy of Cate Belmont By Kleigh Balugo For many members of Gen Z, jamming out in your childhood bedroom to “Here We Go Again” by Demi Lovato or “7 Things” by Miley Cyrus is a universal experience. Blasting your favorite pop rock anthems is always emotional, even when you’re eight years old and can’t…
i’m in love with my mother
Photo by Kleigh Balugo By Emily Coppella walk with her, all over her, beside her, i walk through her every day i (forget to) thank her. lurid memories i wring out again and again like how can i return these favours like how will we create the world when she’s gone crickets at night the…
Familia
Photo by Cecilia Kegler By Cecilia Kegler My work has always centered around my family and trying my best to capture even an ounce of their love and the solace that they bring to my life. These are some of my favorite little moments. I hope that my images inspire feelings of nostalgia and comfort…
Be Patient With Me
Photo by Madison Kleinrock-Andrews and Kleigh Balugo By Madison Kleinrock-Andrews Please be patient with me. It will be a while before I let myself believe that we will last. My father left when I was a baby, and the only boy I’ve ever given my heart to didn’t appreciate it, handed it back to me…
Labor Day
Photo by Greta Unetich By Greta Unetich It poured all night and all day. The world is blue. I drove over midday and we walked in it, through the gardens and the woods and the preserves. Fog lowers itself closer and closer to the ground as early evening approaches, and it starts to rain straight…
My Inheritance
Photo by Tracy Fuentes By Tracy Fuentes Since I was a kid, adults always compared my appearance to my parents, especially my dad’s. Everyone told me that I looked exactly like him, earning me the nickname “Binky” as his nickname is “Bing.” One family friend called me Rodelia, remarking how much I looked like my…
Kindergarten 