“I carry the ghosts of five finals beneath my eyes, and I have no extra bandwidth left for graduation, family, or posing. Still, I am excited…”

The post Hey Mama appeared first on TCJ Student.

“When I first opened the newspaper and unfolded your smile stretched serenely above your name, I remembered how you first came to me; seemingly a death doula, a mother, to guide me through loss. . .”

The post Rose Painted Palms appeared first on TCJ Student.

“Doctors never saw it on x-rays quite the same way the healers had. Instead, nurses pawed at my abdomen, mistook it as nothing more than blood-clots. I’m so sorry, they whispered…”

The post Of Blood and Baskets appeared first on TCJ Student.

“A shadow in the door, his fingers curled around my cellphone. His eyes widened at seeing me in the ER . . . He took a step forward, hesitating before pulling away…”

The post Vigil for Life appeared first on TCJ Student.

“I’d arrived to campus that first time wind-tattered, make-up smeared by an hour’s worth of sweat. My wrist ached from nursing the clutch around curves, hazard-level winds pushing me to the edge…”

The post Headfirst into Crosswinds appeared first on TCJ Student.

“He could see the highway in my eyes, the black-tar sinking like tidepools in the corners. I sagged into the couch and sighed into the steam…”

The post A Drop of Caldo appeared first on TCJ Student.

“I would walk, trash bags twisted onto my ankles to shield against snow melt, until I could rest against the bark, flick through songs, and watch as my breath drifted to the shivering leaves…”

The post Seedlings from a Fallen Maple appeared first on TCJ Student.

“I heard it first before I saw it: a haphazard tapping, urgent as a whisper, against the window…”

The post Hidden Among the Lavender appeared first on TCJ Student.