Sharing emotions is so gross and embarrassing. I don’t want to feel weak or small. But I do. I feel vulnerable and desperate. I feel disgusting. If I write it in passive tense and maybe I can stomach the words on the page. If I am not the subject maybe it’s okay to say it.... Continue Reading →
volte para mim
unedited and written hastily. hopefully you see it Missing you is a pit in my stomach It’s a foot on my chest And quick cry in the work bathroom It’s you and me on my couch Your shoes next to mine The nighttime air It’s memories shared and possibilities lost It’s a frown when no... Continue Reading →
My Fibroid Journey
My Fibroid Journey Let’s start with the very beginning. I have uterine issues, which I jokingly call “my affliction of the womb”. In February of 2021 my gynecologist propped me open with the medical jaws of life and forced a copper IUD through my cervix and into my uterus. It feels as violent as it... Continue Reading →
breaking my silence
I would like to preface this by saying it won’t be as beautifully typed as I normally try because I’m typing this into the notes app on my phone. I don’t feel like I get to live in words anymore. College was full of reading and learning and discussing; laughing and talking and singing. Now... Continue Reading →
Ready or Not, Here I Come
Ready or Not, Here I Come In the past two years I’ve felt very detached from my identity as a writer, and I think that could be because so much about me has changed. I spend too much time idealizing the me that I was before I graduated, and not enough time appreciating who I... Continue Reading →
Unhyphenated American
Suddenly Unhyphenated In May 2018 I learned that the racial identities you’re given at home don’t always travel with you when you go abroad. I experienced the best three weeks of my life while studying abroad in Austria, but also a confusing and unexpected loss of identity while there. Going abroad included a lot of... Continue Reading →
The Philosophy of Aarel 