Poetry Corner
Rainstorm
Hannah Grace Wang
Awakened by the storm,
you’re never the same afterwards.
When it rains, streams become rivers.
Rivers flush away the debris, cleanse the system.
Whatever you’re thinking,
it’s not real. Just a mirage of
the things you’ve brushed aside.
Don’t turn your eye away from
the phases of the moon, for they all
look different in water.
The cycle persists.
Some things come and go, others
stay with you, always
there’s no escaping the
rainstorm.
ever forward, always looking back
Aurora Picciottoli
september burns at the wick
and the ghosts of all the people i’ve ever loved
(and lost, and lost, and lost)
take root in the crawl space under my grandmother’s stairs.
i can feel every iteration of myself dragging her feet
through the muddied leaves of autumn:
the bitter halflife of childhood.
(a hundred thousand fractals of what was,
what could have been).
there’s something dangling from the precipice—
an urgent entropy, an unwavering inertia
that surges forward, heedless of our stumbling gait.
(none of us can go back)
october holds the candle.
time carries on.
Self-Preservation
Kuicmar Phot
Sat in puddles of hair
And pools of cracked fingernails
Bones leather-bound to skin
And teeth weaved into dirt
With one final visit to a grave of lost dreams
And one final letter to a circle of solace
I’ll retreat under the dreary air accompanying midnight’s rain
To smother the murky plummet streaming through the grotto
The bats will guard the echo humming through a hollow cave
And the strangeness of the forest fog as I wait for sun rays
Drowned in a creek of false conviction
And a carpet of mossy faith
I’ll remain in my cave
Until the bread of grief rots
As I preserve what’s left
Of my splintered shell
Editor-in-Chief (Volume 51); Arts & Entertainment Editor (Volume 50) — Hannah recently completed her HBA in Communications, Culture, Information & Technology and Professional Writing & Communications with High Distinction. Hannah served as the Arts & Entertainment Editor for Vol. 50 and her previous publications include PWC’s official journal of creative non-fiction in Mindwaves Vol. 15 and research in Compass Vol. 9 and 10. She also served as an Associate Editor for Compass Vol. 9 and Vol. 10. In her spare time, Hannah runs her sticker shop The Aesthetics Studio and does freelance writing. You can connect with Hannah on LinkedIn.
Staff Writer (Volume 49) — Kuicmar is completing a Forensic Biology specialization and a Creative Writing minor. This is Kuicmar’s first year as a staff writer for The Medium. She usually writes for the Opinions and Arts and Entertainment sections. She can’t wait to share her thoughts, opinions, and poetry. When she’s not studying or writing, you can find her watching movies, shooting arrows in archery, updating her Letterboxd, watching F1 content, reading NASA articles, or listening to music. You can find Kuicmar on her Instagram and Linkedin.