Secret Garden
2023-2024
Schicksal (Fate)
By Lindsay Ely
By Lindsay Ely
Als Odin mich zu meiner Bahn fü As Odin guides me to my new path,
Diese Sackgassen betrauern den Menschen, der ich war. Those dead ends mourn the person I once was.
Sie verweilen wo ich einst gestanden habe, They linger where I once stood,
Bittend für meine Seele zu regredieren Begging for my soul to regress.
Denn ich habe geistige Welten erreicht, For I have moved to realms they cannot reach,
Sie können mich nicht erreichen. Facing challenges they could not meet
Ich begegne Herausforderungen, die sie Without falling:
nicht erfüllen könnten ohne zu fallen: forever standing still.
Immer still stehen
Aber die Norns haben sich noch mehr aufbewahrt. But the Norns have more in store.
Sie weben mein Schicksal in größe Pläne They weave my fate into bigger plans
Als ich viele Siege und Herausforderungen begegne. as I face many victories and challenges.
In diese, ich kann den Plan der Götterfür mich sehen. In this, I can see the gods plan for me.
Girls Are Made of Sea Glass
By Jolie Gagnon
By Jolie Gagnon
people are pretty like rainbow sea glass
the sea tumbles each piece until it’s worn smooth
but most shards of glass keep a few sharp edges
those sharp edges are where the glass is clearest and true to form
where it’s color is strongest and it’s form is most raw
most untouched by the sea and unworn by the sand
bits of emerald, copper, cobalt, the occasional bit of turquoise
and an infinite amount of crystalline clarity
dot each beach and sidewalk and roadway
to find a piece in a rare color is a treasure
she’s never found purple or pink or orange or yellow
but will always look for it
sea glass is everywhere and beautiful and
she can’t help but to look at each piece
while keeping her distance in case she gets cut on those sharp edges
she’s afraid to bleed and her edges get sharper each time
she cracks like the grykes forming under the hot midday sun
so she leaves each piece of glass where she finds it in the sand
because each of those people is as sharp as she is
but god are they beautiful
Alien Visitors
By Carlos Yu
By Carlos Yu
We arrive on U.F.O tractor beam
blue-booked sweat-studded
conditioned in northeastern wind
We choked on tropical air
Bodies bruised by remembering
We stand on opposite line like
foreign flags waving our
spangled stars our white stripes
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
No one waves back.
No one understands me My
sister has remember-mouth
From her tongue recall-routes
unravel She talks us through
the country in father-memory
The man behind the plexiglass
parts his lips I hear a wringing
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
I only see the hole in his mouth
the shape of my pain I cough
up old memories I reach for
my brown passport forgotten
in a bygone barangay There
is no Mabuhay, no Welcome
home.