Contents

Entropy
Emma Hoffman

ode to your cup of tea placed warm in my hands
Mady Thetard

mt
Carleigh DeBrock

A Heavy Space Between Us
Kenny Borsch

Silent Ephemera
Kai Clark

The Photo Taken By Ella Jean
Em Loney

Lapsed
Em Loney

Field Lament
Elizabeth Angione

Under the Mirror
Paul Wagner

Idolatry
Braylon L. James

Veiled Fragility
Kai Clark

Vanity
Braylon L. James

Will I Ever See You Again?
Kenny Borsch

Lush
Rinoa Chech

Letter to a Phoenix

Dear Mom, 
I get angry that I am entitled 
enough to be impatient with your healing.
Time makes it harder to wait for change;
change comes with time. 

Yet with time, you heal. 
I see you confronting the reality 
that challenged your perceptions
and scattered your energy
in all different directions.
You don’t know what you lack until you 
step out of shoes you outgrew long ago;
shoes much too small for big dreams.

For in your spirit lies a Phoenix.

But I’m learning 
to paint you with more vibrant colors. 
I know you’re cold, but allow yourself to 
reignite. Burn what’s not meant to be.
Let what remains surface and teach us. 
We’ll get your flame back in due time. 

I can feel you rising from the ashes. 
This is your pivotal point—
escape this absence of light,
ignite your spirit and fly again, Phoenix. 

Love, 
Thunderbird

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sydney Schimmel

I hope to inspire people to live the way they want to and see their world in a way that is unique to their experience. I hope that my work reaches people and connects with their emotions.