authored in June to dance attuned, after the sun is down. where the glow is not but a breeze caressing a nightgown’s scars under in town. un pueblo is a constellation hidden light years beyond a mansion at the top of a hill, even if no kings —especially if no kings— are throned to be between the ages of seven and seventeen. i am king and at seven needed a hymn of Andean musing and love cruising warmisitay infused, diffused, consoled. to learn about how eso que tú haces no es amor para aprender de la violencia del amor: moisturized into daily prayer imbued into weekly report i am king fragmented into the multiple Mujeres you’ll need to become, and Be-to-Come, and Come-Back, and BE. because para ver in order to BE, hay que feel seen. VER está tan cerca d Verb but so far from materializing into action, protección y cuidado. Where is my modernist crown? por eso hay que (des)escuchar a las abuelas, to the realism in their magic dissect their racismo’s magical thinking tether rhythms of care learning to survive centuries worth of pain diciéntote cúrate mi niña con amor del más bonito y recuerda siempre que tú eres la medicina que se vuelvan polvo todos los dolores que los queme el fuego y vengan nuevas flores potions for self-recovery i am king desde los noventa. cuando se (re)inventó la Mujer in salsa arpegios wars being the grammar of mujerhood Porque cada ser conoce bien cada guerra cada herida de la vida y del amor también as ritual, desahogo as a method in E major for swirling sorrow away i am king desde los 2000 when no tenía ni un novio ni a Gael Garcia when prefaced with a “him” was any order to BE. and the twirls, the valleys afterthoughts i am king ever since when, once again, se inventó el ver in order to BE. I see myself i be active as in perpetual as actions as the alchemy of gravitational pull in spaces ese lugar soy yo
Sisa Poemape-Heredia (she/her) is a Boston-based Peruvian writer. After graduating with a sociology BA in Lima, she received her masters in English at UMass Boston. Her work has been published in the anthology "We Grow Anyway" by Prickly Pear Printing. She is always happy to discuss her favorite memoir Carmen Maria Machado's "In the Dream House"
Yasser Alaa Mobarak (b. 1993) is a multi-award-winning photographer represented by ZUMA Press from Alexandria, Egypt. He is a Visiting Instructor at the Delhi College of Photography in India and a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society in Great Britain. Yasser has received international recognition for his images from esteemed competitions, including Travel Photographer of the Year Award, National Geographic Award, Sony World Photography Awards, the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, the Sarajevo Photography Festival, the International Photo Awards, Egypt Press Photo, Paris Photo Prize and the Royal Photographic Society.
