by Keren Darancette

That decade we spent trapped in a smoke cloud. We gathered beneath the black ceilings of the bar, joined hands as one mass of sadness 

one destruction. 

We became dingy birds, caged and yellow, we sat in our cages hung deep in the mine waiting to die, to absorb the poison before it hit others, so they could live. We liked it that way, full of 

our duty. 

We wanted to die slow and quiet, folding into the dark of the paint that covered the nicotine walls and familiar notes on the jukebox. We were martyrs on broken barstools, heroes who snorted coke, sucked cocks, and pissed the bed. Each day closer to death 

or rebirth. 

Keren is a librarian and freelance editor from Southern California. When she’s not helping students with research or marking up papers she’s hanging out with the cat and reading up on the cosmos. More poems can be found at kerendarancette.com.

by Ellie Lopez

Honey / sweet water / fingertips / more than hands could feed / sliced lemon / sting / hands washed clean / want you around / like an open wound / salt on your cuts / tender to touch / honey over flesh / suck the bittersweet / spit the seeds out / only flowers remain

Ellie Lopez is a writer, photographer and full-time chismosa from Tracy, CA. You can find all her latest chisme on the socials; IG: @lamexicanahermosa, Twitter: @missellielopez

by Maritza Ocampo

She’s there

the reckless spirit

the one who got you 

through so much bullshit

the one you relied on

to pull you

out of the hole

you dug yourself

into 

she’s there

she hasn’t cracked

she hasn’t left 

she’s transforming

letting different

emotions

filter through

and settle in

challenging you

she’s waiting

taking some time 

to be cautious

for what she’s done

Maritza is a Cal State San Bernardino MFA graduate and currently shares her love of stories to elementary school students as their spooky librarian. When not working or writing you can find her trying to maneuver her way into a wannabe roller skater. You can find her work in Huizache, Acentos Review and other lit journals.

Alexandra Martinez is a baker and poet living in the tumbleweeds of Southern California. You can find her on Instagram @alxndramartinez or twitter @mexicanpiggybnk.

If you asked me 

how it felt to be 

raped, I couldn’t tell you. 

My mind deleted that memory. 

I can only tell 

you what my mind 

did to cope.

You become the liar.

He said you always 

were, so any form 

of trauma is just 

a lie that you

wove, to get attention. 

You don’t believe yourself

anymore, you think anything

you think is selfish,

another putrid curse

your mouth spewed that

is only lightly laced 

in truth. 

You learn to bend 

every truth, add your

own spin on it.

So that you can’t

question what is truth,

and what is a lie. 

In your mind’s filter,

everything is a lie.

It’s a good way

to hide the truth, 

to trick your brain

to believe everything you

say is a lie. 

It dulls the angst 

inside your belly, your

only real beacon of

truth.

You learn to lie 

about everything, even the

stupid things. You extend

the time by an hour,

you exaggerate a number

and double it. Any

little fib to add to 

the guilt you have building.

The guilt that won’t ever let you forgive yourself. Because you don’t deserve it.

You deserved to have been abused. 

No one would have believed you.

And so you became what you believed. 

A walking, talking lie. 

Mauricio Moreno is a 1st generation Colombian-American artist and writer, originally from Elizabeth, New Jersey. He moved to California to fulfill his life mission of being a writer and sharing the stories of others to bring readers closer together and heal the world. His work has been published in Conchas Y Cafe, a Los Angeles-based quarterly zine published by DSTL Arts, and is also featured as part of the Summer Literature exhibition in Intercultural Press. He is currently working on a novel and is also in the process of publishing his first collection of poetry. When he is not writing poetry, he can be found throwing axes at deadwood, being a fur dad, and dissecting governments with his revolutionary wife.