By Makda Assefa ’26 The world is a daunting place, they said, Rough, With edges that will poke and prod, Prick you, until blood is drawn. Hold your head up high, they said, Neck strained, eyes straight, Gaze fixed, Fixated on this world, This imperfect world where I am but a woman. I see this…
Superviolet
By Suraj Singareddy ’25 After “Red Wall” by Yi Lei, translated by Tracy K. Smith and Changtai Bi I plant violets in my ears Their splitting stems birth green tongues – digging, screwing, bursting like kudzu through my tympanic membrane middle ear isthmus eustachian tube nasophraynx oral cavity poke their heads out bushels unfurling in…
DOWN SHAME-READS
Look. We’re not saying these books are bad. Here at DOWN we don’t believe in judging books by their covers but by the content of their character. All we’re saying is that if you saw us reading this in public no you didn’t. When someone leans over our shoulder to ask what we’re reading on…
Magnolias
By Lula Talenfeld ’25 I catch myself shape-shifting with the seasons A new form of spring that is juxtaposed with a falling That is forgetting how to care at all – Weather changes sporadically like how I hear a heartbeat And I find a tornado where my closet used to be The fence has come…
unauthorized syllabi: eight
a bi-weekly column by michelle ampofo ’25 managing editor ✶✶✶ an iron pillar. I KNOW MORE NOW THAN I’VE EVER KNOWN. That’s all. That’s the intro. ✶✶✶ J.k. because I feel like ending the year that way would be super anti-climactic. But I still don’t want to come up with something new to write… So…