Sulwe (after Lupita Nyongo)

Art by Isabelle Lu, staff artist

a supernova exploded as dusk appeared blades of sun shower down onto the surface of some other planet as the trumpet’s call signals that that the Battle of 4Ever has ended and what we see is fly girls goddesses mermaids nymphs sprouting from the residue of the blades

some are maimed from the silent ordeals of their past lives while others only want to gather here and gaze at the mothers the aunts the sisters the daughters whom granted their birth

a Silk Road separates them and perhaps. God intended on it being so tonight the women swell with something as full as the moon and as magnificent as the mountain watching them in the distance no one understands what is happening. the purpose or plan of the reunion because they know not of one another. beings continue to burst. from burning seeds when the aurora borealis pull their attention to the mountainside heads told towards it. features come into better definition skin of black gold honey earth strange luminous eyes flowers of violet rest in the thickets. of kinks and twirls. alphas and omegas it seems now as if they have begun to leave the center of the world and it is indeed marvelous capturing the galaxies in their palms as they got beyond the troposphere I hope they’re rejoicing up there amongst the constellations and blue-green light smiling crying being abundant as they have always wanted to be as they always have been a woman falls back to the land with a majestic lilt as her feet hit the ground coming towards me? my mother. reaching me at last. holding my face in her firm hands. reading me. loving me. nurturing me all at once and those things I return to her for her simple words sprinkle. me with. grace and new frontiers

baby you are light.

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Alana Brown-Davis is a sixteen year old Mississippian on the verge of a Hulu anime addiction. She has rediscovered her love for Outkast and everything southern since the pandemic and is a proud country bumpkin. She is a current junior at South Pike High School where she participates in the band playing trumpet and mellophone. She aggravates her mother and friends on a regular basis and is currently learning how to drive which has been a very interesting ride. Pun intended.

Isabelle Lu is a 16-year-old creative from Long Island, New York. She is a winner of the New York Times Student Editorial Contest and the Scribe Writing Contest in poetry. She likes collecting strange earrings, which when worn may hinder activities like playing the cello and putting on sweaters. In her daily life, she can be found doodling and enthusing about books to unsuspecting innocents. Her art career began with magical girls.