In the daytime, we bask in the sun, but the rays are harsh in this swampy corner of the river. It rubs our skin red and raw, but in two days’ time, the desirable brown will develop like a roll of film, and the water is murky and warm as we braid thread, waiting forContinue reading “Banana Island”
Author Archives: C.
Confinement and Redress in Native Son
Bigger’s acts of aggression can’t be redressed by prison time, because they are ultimately a symptom of confinement. Throughout the novel Native Son, by Richard Wright, the protagonist Bigger suffers from excessive pressure from external influences. These external pressures are initially proposed as vague, fleeting senses of awareness of a truth so large it seemsContinue reading “Confinement and Redress in Native Son”
Religious and Punitive Parallels in The Color Purple
The role of religion in The Color Purple (1982) is a means of subconsciously maintaining the hold of carceral logic on characters. The Colour Purple, a novel by Alice Walker tells the story of an African American girl named Celie living in rural Georgia early 1800’s. The novel, told in epistolary format, details the abuse and lifelongContinue reading “Religious and Punitive Parallels in The Color Purple”
love of my life
love of my life i will abandon you not a harsh mistress but mine nonetheless a life of bleeding paper all the extremities of the heart to your madness i commit myself i bear your mark proudly at your service to you i present my blood and my flesh sever my soul from my bodyContinue reading “love of my life”
A Dying Garden
It’s crazy how the garden hardly looks beautiful anymore. I let the grass grow out, convinced length was the missing piece. Yes, that’s what I thought, that the short grass just wasn’t right. The azaleas are blue now. I’ve always admired them from afar, and now they grow in my garden, beautiful but out ofContinue reading “A Dying Garden”
As the lights dim
Inspiration, however mundane, sweeps you off your feet. Today, I’m inspired by the emptiness inside. It almost catches me off guard at times. I’ve just graduated high school, and where I should be feeling excitement, relief, and pride, I feel dread and regret. I desperately wish to wake up to any day prior to thatContinue reading “As the lights dim”
A River of Lilies
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there was a magician. Despite being able to create anything he could ever dream of, he was fascinated with the inner workings, the clockwork of nature. What truly made the days pass as they did. The only things his magic couldn’t touch. One day, he decided he wouldContinue reading “A River of Lilies”
The Ambulance In The Parking Lot
I was lying in bed. It seemed to be another night where I couldn’t risk falling asleep. Even now, I couldn’t tell you why. I’d like to believe that maybe my story is more than just a fold in the infinite vastness, and that somehow it began with a warning from the universe itself. We’llContinue reading “The Ambulance In The Parking Lot”
A Dream Shard
My dreams unfailingly show the surprising intersection of my most human desires, it’s not uncommon. A little game, between my subconscious and I. Every night desire takes centre stage, but slips away before the moon meets the horizon. My dream yesterday though, couldn’t have been clearer. It was your face in the most exquisitely exceptionalContinue reading “A Dream Shard”
My Corpse Garden
i can’t escape the corpse garden. there is no exit, it’s everywhere and nowhere all at once. its reality as much as it is fantasy, with equal parts traumatic hallucination. the severed heads bear a striking resemblance to fan palms, the gnarled fingers almost like twigs, grasping for anything that moves. it stinks of rottingContinue reading “My Corpse Garden”
Literary Musings 