Humanity: Raw & Unfiltered
It doesn’t take much to set that feeling off in me—racing heart, the inability to settle my hands if I try to type. I no longer experience a temptation to raise my voice as I once did, though sometimes—like today—when my body gets that jittery feeling that adrenalin or cortisol Read more
“Ten films?” The X-ray technician looks at my referral while I stand anxiously next to the mammogram machine. “Who ordered this?” She sits down at the little desk against the wall, back to me, flipping my chart pages up and down. “My breast surgeon,” I answer. Ever since my cancer Read more
Brazilian Wax. The distinctiveness of this practice only dawned on me after leaving my home country. In Brazil, wax is simply wax—just as there, I am a citizen, not a Latina, a South American, or an immigrant. Seeing the name of my homeland advertised on chalkboards outside gringo beauty salons Read more
January 20, 2025 Behind dark mountains at dusk, the white god rises.Long after the loss of trust, the white god rises. During eclipse, they bang pans to bring the moon back.She laughs, what’s wrong with the cusp? The white god rises. Who sculpts the shape of woman, the shape of Read more
On a blank wall a purple line rises and falls as the painter walks alone, can in hand, heart fast, breath shallow, hopes high. The line will soon disappear at the hand of another painter, hired to cover this expression of joy, as it will be thought of by the Read more
In case you’ve missed the memo, calling someone exotic is not a compliment. As personal essays, academic articles and social media will tell you, the term reinforces white beauty standards, turning racialized people into outsiders, curiosities, and fetish objects. I understand this stance. As an Indian-Pakistani Muslim with brown skin Read more
To the restaurant I’ve worked at for four years, that’s equal opportunity, that prides themselves on how they do not discriminate against sex, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, pretending like I didn’t overhear that I’ve been kept as a host so a pretty, smiling face is the first thing Read more
All night, she thought she heard storms, or were they just dreams? She thought she heard a voice speaking in dusty dreams. She was so sick that she could never go outside. So she planted a small garden of trusting dreams. They shared the same chain. One barked; the other Read more