Photo courtesy of Laurie Shelly There are certain words that are familiar to me because I have come across them in books and know what they mean, but when I say them out loud, I realise I don’t know how to pronounce them. My bedroom walls are a powdery blush colour. I chose the colour myself! I remember, when I was a child, my dad painted the walls while I sat on the floor drawing a picture of a girl in a castle with my rainbow set of pencils, her jewelled crown

Illustration by: Sabrina Carrizo Sztainbok Hummingbird a poem for when the words don't come easily sometimes my tongue feels heavy in my mouth and my words tumble out like dirty laundry from an upturned basket my words are not pretty or neat they are jumbled and ugly and large, day-glow green - they cannot be ignored i taste regret on my lips as soon as i speak and it is bitter, battery acid on my heavy tongue other times i cannot speak at all my body seizes up, ri

Photo by Ian Keteku The first time I heard one of Sabrina Benaim’s poems, I was having one of those days where you just feel… ugh. Like a basin of dirty dishwater. The poem was called ‘First Date’ and it was magic. Sabrina’s poetry is filled with this incredible sort of whimsy and truth and rawness, and after listening, all of a sudden I felt like all the dirt had been polished off. I felt empowered. Less like dishwater and more like myself again. In this interview, I got

Illustration by Marlenne Jasso we were made for each other like perfectly carved puzzle pieces, fitting into one another our petals caressed and danced with each other for we resemble roses you were my world the only thing worth living for the only thing i wanted to witness grow but that was until i saw you with her she was curled around your broad body like a snake she kissed your pale cheeks as tears cascaded down mine you didn't even lock the door left it open

Illustration by Sudeepti Tucker I gasp Throat closing up the air thick, stagnant each breath a knife to my throat My focus narrows then expands like trying to blow up a balloon riddled with holes The walls do not understand space They wrap me in their embrace I choke on them and I’m on fire like ants crawling across my skin The people around me taking up everything for themselves their words Come to me as if through a filter W

Photo by: Reanne Suzzane Koh Separated by time and space, By chance and fortune, By luck and fate. We turn our heads too quick To see the other’s stare. We move our hands too fast To ever have them brush. We hesitate too long To say the words that dance on our lips. We stop to think, To wonder, To fear. A millisecond divides us, Tearing a chasm too far for hope to stretch. Our paths cross, Again and again, But we stand miles apart, Divided by our fear

My best friend and I have this theory that parts of our soul come from the same star. Perhaps that explains why our lives seem to intertwine so closely and why we can always, without fail, make each other feel okay again. To my best friend, my sister, these poems are for you. Here’s to many more years of love and sisterhood, coffee shop hopping and late-night FaceTime sessions. Photo by: Hailey Asquin poem i (my best friend, my sister) my best friend is a girl made of ink an

Falling in love. What is it to fall in love? It’s like magic but impossibly real. It’s infinite strength

Illustration By Margarida Eloy (Ahoy Illustrations) Youth is The time where we have no idea what to do The time where we fall in and out of love The time where life is trying to bring us down by filling us with so much work The time of adjustment The time where vacation is what we request Vacation, Vacation, One word that will never get old It light up the path which leads to our youth For our future is brightening but lengthen days after days Youth ,

Rhiannon McGavin is a writer from Los Angeles who first started drafting poems to attract the attention of a cute boy in her children’s Shakespeare group. While she never won his affection, she has performed original poetry on Grace Cavalieri’s “Poet and the Poem” podcast, NPR, and at venues from the Troubadour to the Lincoln Center. Rhiannon is also a 2016 YoungArts Finalist in Writing for Spoken Word. In her free time, she enjoys reading and making lip balm. All Photos by: