Fall So Far: Music Edition
It’s been a minute since I’ve talked about music on this blog, but Spotify wrapped season is lurking in the shadows so I figure there’s no time like the present. I’m going to focus on these first two weeks of November and what’s been on repeat for me.
Jackie
This past September, I was applying for a grant focused on portrait photography. I recruited some friends to help build this project for my portfolio. I wanted to capture a moment of pause amidst the chaos of being young and unsure. Although the twenties are talked about as a golden and carefree era of our lives, I’ve found that they’re also full of instability and stress. Each image captures a truth, however brief it may have been, and these frames are proof. The first person in this series is my friend, Jackie.
Self-inflicted Museums
We speak in the past or future tense, but rarely in the present. Things we have liked, places we have lived, trips we will take, errands we will run. When people ask, “how are you?”, they rarely mean how are you in that very second the question is being asked.
The Lies We Uncover in the Telephone Wires
what secrets
do the telephone wires know about you that i don’t?
they hang heavy like drapes
drooping under the weight of my suspicions
whose voice is on the other end?
Open Letter to My High School
I have tried to think about the words I want to say so many times, but I have not been ready. However, the students of color and the Black students in this school district deserve more out of their education.
The Weight of the World is Not Mine to Carry
Since high school, I have struggled with chronic depression. It took a year of feeling tidal wave after tidal wave of sadness to admit to myself I was depressed, and even after the internal reckoning, the obligation I felt to my family and my friends to “be okay” ran deep.
Homecoming
Let moss grow in place of my nail beds
Let roots intertwine into the scalp of my hair
In the spring
May buds bloom from my eyelids
A Short Meditation: May 27, 2021
There are so many people in the world. They lie on towels in the park, apply sunscreen to their children’s arms, hold hands even in the 90% humidity. We don’t share inside jokes or stories. Our only commonality is existing in this moment on this planet together.
On Being Twenty
I feel like I’m constantly being asked “what’s next?” Although I’ve learned to adapt and field questions like these, especially when it pertains to the looming and ambiguous “future”, the thought of change has always overwhelmed me.
A Metaphor For Depression
On rainy days
All I want is to see clearly
Water droplets cling to my window screen
I Am Who I Love
If I am who I love
I hope I am my mother’s empathy
Warm and inviting
Crinkled around the corners from nights spent laughing around dinner tables
Old New Playlist
If there’s been one saving grace this year for me it’s been music. Give my new playlist, Old New, a listen to get yo groove on!
For My Nana
September 4, the anniversary of my nana’s death. I wrote this poem in her memory. I miss her deeply and love her even more.
The Side Effect of Love
August is always a whirlwind of emotions for me: the stress and excitement that comes with a new school year, the nostalgia for the end of beach days and bare feet, the grief of another year without two of my favorite people, my nana and my dad.
Friday Playlist
It’s the weekend! Here’s bits and pieces of what my week has sounded like, a little all over the place. There’s old and new, and a little bit of pop, rap, and indie
2020: The Year of No Resolutions
It’s January 1st. The champagne has been popped. The clock has struck midnight, and we are in a new year — a new decade.
It Was a Sign
The shadow of the Prudential Center fades as our car merges onto I-93. Each license plate scattered along the highway belongs to a different state. An electronic sign sits on the shoulder.
Bravery Within Self-doubt
It’s easy to get caught in the current of self-doubt. It’s even easier for that current to become a tidal wave of self-hatred and loathing. I find myself constantly trying to grapple with this idea of perfection.
Birthdays After Death
January is the time of rebirth — the month of novelty. My January has undertones of these feelings of newness, but they are always overwhelmed by the presence of my father and his legacy.