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TW: eating disorder
A formally bold, experimental piece of free verse that explores a relationship with the body that feels often unrequited
The Fire
Looking at the ‘sickness’ that occurs in the environment, Louise Coghill’s photo series documents a fire ravaging a 25-year-old family home
My Heart Monitor Yells at Me Whenever I Try to Run Now
Hannah Siden explores the realities of chronic illness through verse
Razor Blade Gummy Bears
Razor Blade Gummy Bears observes the sickly fascination with sweetness as poison, its absurdity and allure made tangible in the form of gleaming translucent resin.
I was Eight When They Said Mama was Sick
The latest in our haiku column by Louise Gerodias
In English Class, I Wrote This Poem
New in milk & vodka, this poem by Bianca Grace shows a girl learning to channel and name her patriarchal rage. With art by Zahra Mohamadi
The words that have departed
This two-screen panel installation shows multiple perspectives on a live performance on topics pertinent to khaleeji women
Walking, Ruminating
San Francisco poet Allie Rigby forms a poem in step with a reflective stroll
Treatment
A short film on outdated scoliosis treatment
Grandpa
Using playful, even childlike language, this poem is made out of a loved one’s absence – the ‘sickness’ of loss
Yearning
Rosalyn Ng’s paintings are visceral, almost autofictive vehicles of expression – multi-textured, they represent a form of emotional processing
Breach of Contract
A poem in which a woman waits for her husband to die
Dependent Origination Trumps Old Age, Sickness, Death
A tiny poem that packs in Buddhist philosophy, love, and attachment into a mere handful of lines
Therein, A Life in Pieces
JP Seabright’s autofiction lays bare the realities of living with a chronic illness and its impact on the quotidian
An Archive of Absences
In this personal essay, Susanne Niemann considers her family history and roots in Germany, and the need to document memory
A Note from the Editor: Issue 39
UNBECOMING
A poem that questions the lines between love, care, gender, and sexuality and what it means to be and become
Down and Out in the UAE Badlands
Film camera in tow, Benjamin Kirby heads to Al Dhaid in Dubai, where he meets an enigmatic TikTok-famous travel agent and muses on the urban landscape in this new essay
Three Poems
New in our milk & vodka column, a trio of crashing, biting, tender poems by Laura Evers on womanhood
A Knotty Problem: Politics of My Hair
When cutting your hair is a radical act – Lubnah Ansari unpacks the social paradigms surrounding the politics of female hair in the South Asian context