By Fernanda Contreras
I wanted to challenge social expectations and give the child the freedom to make their own decisions in a world that often overlooks them.
Author: admin
Art Showcase
By Natasha Muriel
It is hard to live in a world
With many barriers and stigmas about
Gender everywhere
Photo Showcase
By Shadai DeJesus
My work is inspired by documentary storytelling, hip hop history, and the connection between music and community.
Photo Showcase
by Sead Cena
A young woman holds her infant wrapped inside a blanket during a Red Cross distribution of food and supplies at a Romani camp in Albania.
Two Poems
By Arben Alovic
My heart, it sits tucked away in a book
on the shelf to collect dust. Tickets for two to
Tokyo, unused. I never brought myself
to ask for a refund. Expensive bookmarks
to remind me of
what could have been.
Two Seventy-Five
by John A. Birt
Eleven quarters, a dime, and a nickel
leaves you both bothered and worried
as delinquent teens attempt to surf
on the train cars instead of the sea.
Weathered Paths
By Nafiz Imtiaz Emu
only you held on
to the truth of the road,
survived the gravel’s bite,
the pressing weight
of every step
Ode to the Distance
by Andrew Lynch
I want to melt
into the pot with the spoon
that you stir until
I’m brought to a boil
The Past Catches Up To Us
by Karlo Krstulovic
As with many kings, the only thing left to do is take the crown and break it apart a million times.
Art Showcase: Fernanda Contreras
“Libertad,” watercolor and silicone on
illustration board, 2024.
Puerto Ricans Can’t Be Goth
By Kayla Texidor
Puerto Ricans can’t be goth, you see, and they can’t be sad.
We must know all the bochinche and spread it like they think we spread our legs.
When Your Skyscrapers Bloom
by Laura Tobón
Let me go, for I need a transfusion of love, and among your apples, it is too costly. My pennies are not enough to pay for it.
A Bad Egg
by Ryan Tenesaca
It was said when one receives an egg, it would attach itself to its owner: not in the way a pet attaches itself to its master, rather how a leech attaches itself to a body.
Art Showcase: Nancy Bishwakarma
“Nature’s Frame,” acrylic on paper, 2025.
Things I Wish my Daughter Knew
by N.I.P
My daughter, my daughter, why do you resent me?
I was just a child,
Starving, fighting to survive,
A girl forced into womanhood
Invisible Sledgehammer
by Annalee Hardison
The news of this is like getting hit in the chest with an invisible sledgehammer, forcing all the air out of my lungs as the pain overwhelms me with its singular devastating blow to my heart.
Art Showcase: Natasha Muriel
“Sara Millery (Lady Spring)” by Natasha Muriel
Jean Forever
by Asia-Marie Charles
Jean was a smart girl, such a smart girl. But in a time like this, in a place like this, the smartest thing you could do is not be too big about it.
Ode to Clay Masks
by John A. Birt
The mudslide travels
from cheek to cheek.
Forehead to chin.
An unnatural disaster.
Two Girls and New York
by Kayla Rene Texidor
I was desperate to feel nothing, and you were yearning to feel something
Photography Showcase: Ian Patino
“Agriculture,” 2024.
The Fast Lane
by Rafael Cevallos
I’m too slow,
Too slow even for the bike lane.
The battery-powered mopeds,
The bikes, the scooters,
They all tear ahead of me
Why Can’t You See That I Love You?
by Karlo Krstulovic
Heavy footfalls pound against a wooden staircase,
drums of war echoing against the walls.
Thoughts Buried Beneath my Pillow
by Natalie Edmond
Couldn’t tell my body wasn’t ready
Didn’t ask if I was okay
Only wanted to consume me quickly
The Family House
by Jessicah Erondu
As soon as I opened the front door, a wave of noise and smells hit me. Before I even had a chance to process anything, I heard, “Good, you’re home! I need your help in the kitchen. Now!” I sighed.
A Story of Desire
by Michael Florent
Chauncy was obsessed with Delilah’s full-of-life personality. She reminded him of a time when everything was still new and fun, before he had decided to forsake romance for his responsibilities.
The Boys Under the Moon
By Casey Garcia
“That’s why I think you’re perfect,” Ian said. “Because you show your true self—even when it’s raw. Just like the moon, I get to watch you go through every phase.”
Between Me and the Sky
By Andrea Aguilar
The cloud covered the sun once more, the rage inside me staying with the clouds, where only I exist.
Greater Than
by Alessandra Ventura
I wish I could believe
I am more than the labels
that the ghosts of my past
have branded onto my skin.
The Alley at Dusk
By YUI
I had wandered down the alley before, but tonight felt different. I could feel it; something hanging in the air, something not quite right
Capital of the World
by Jeffrey Olivares
My Parents always told me
Nosotros solo hablamos español en la casa
But in the busy city of New York
English is what connects me to others
Art Showcase: Queens Pride CUNY Logo
by Alexandra Garcia, Amelia Stepnowski, Athos Argue, and Mykola Honcharov
Good Luck, Mary
by Giselle Galindo
The last thing I will tell you is good luck, Mary. Because you’re going to need it so damn much.
Sunset in Kamakura
by Arben Alovic
I wasn’t around for goodbye.
Quiet days on black sand beaches,
As you gasped,
For the air that wouldn’t fill your lungs.
Where You Still Live
by Neissa Jacques
You were the villain in my life, yet in my stories, you are still my light
I hold you in ink, a memory I hope to expand.
Palms on Saturn
by Khadija Santana
I confess that I fold my solemnity
That my anguish regresses
In fear that the warm palm will soon sting
Cold, bitter, frozen lakes spring amongst my veins
Interview with Neissa Jacques
Interview by Mahdi Tanim
The act of rewriting memories, holding on through ink, shows she hasn’t fully let go.
Interview with Andrea Aguilar
Interview by Mahdi Tanim
The call ends suddenly because his papa wants nothing to do with him; Leonid is nothing to him but a child he has.
Interview with Karlo Krstulovic
Interview by Kiera Dennis-Espinal
Our city is beautiful, and people come from all over the world to enjoy it, but there are also people living here every day, working hard, carrying quiet stories that rarely get attention.
Interview with Natalie Edmond
Interview by Andrea Aguilar
One of the challenges I faced when writing this poem would be getting out of that unsettling headspace after tapping into the memory of that experience.
