You can’t place my face, can you? I mean, the skin tone kind of provides some insight, but my place of origin? A muddy lake of confusion and diasporic mystery. My junior year of high school, someone remarked that I had “Cherokee” eyes (wtf). When I was fourteen, someone complained that “Black people are so…
Dear Aubrey, May I call you Aubrey? In the “Child’s Play” music video, Tyra Banks notes how the girl you’re allegedly cheating with calls you Aubrey, and nobody else but Tyra and your own momma call you that. Curious. But I understand you, maybe, in ways that Tyra or your side chick do, so I…
I have struggled for nearly three years with Wallace Stevens’ “Sunday Morning.” Since having sex with another man for the first time last weekend, it’s felt yet more pressing to understand this poem. Ostensibly, there is no connection between sex and Stevens’ poem about losing faith. Perhaps a more fitting poem to commemorate the…
by Marina Tinone -1- Write about your most comfortable place. It doesn’t have to be your home, though many choose to write about their home. It can be your favorite place, a place you feel at peace, or a place that you want to return to. Why is it important to you? Think of the…
My mother called me today. She called me to say, “I am so proud of you. I hope you are safe.”The invocation of safety was thrown in as a filler for protection which she could no longer provide. She is now 2,000 miles away. The mention of pride still flushes my face and creates a…