Johnson County Library's Teen Literary Magazine
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Johnson County Library’s teen literary magazine Of Questions and Answers by Ayesha Asad I have wondered why my body looks the way it does in the sun. Brow bone glittering, sweat tricking like the last swill of water down a glass, blood circulating like clockwork, a gear so visceral and rooted in its own ringing design. My dear — what I have left as I wait for its last spin is the desire to learn. Every chime my tongue hurriedly reshapes is a word re-lost, relearned in a space filled with quiet. Body, ring louder — let me hear what language spills out of your skin like a swimmer reaching out of cold water. One palm weighed against the gravity of a flatline sky. Every pulse buoyed in my throat, every heartbeat rippling the calm of my wrist — they work toward their own crescendo, toward the beat where you suck in the air through your teeth and wonder Classical if you guessed correctly. If you found what carillon by Brianna Bona ceaselessly tolled in between the music of each wind. And then — what draft sweeps between my ribs, eroding them into fine powder. Tell me, what do I open my mouth to. Cover: Beauty is Pain by Alex Braley Teen Services | Johnson County Library PO Box 2933, Shawnee Mission, KS 66201 913.826.4600 | [email protected] This publication may contain controversial material. Kansas law prohibits the suppression of a student-based publication solely because it involved political or controversial subject matter. Johnson County Library and its board members, officers and employees may disclaim any responsibility for the content of this publication; it is not an expression of Library policy. From the Editors . Welcome to elementia, a magazine edited and designed by teenagers in the Kansas City metro area and published by Johnson County Library. elementia takes on a new theme each year; this year’s submissions were inspired by “Bodies.” Johnson County Library’s teen literary magazine teen literary Johnson County Library’s Throughout this year, editors met virtually to discuss themes, structures, hopes and goals for the magazine. When we came up with bodies as this year’s theme, we could never have imagined the broad and diverse interpretations that would be submitted and published in issue xviii. From eating disorders to acne, this year’s issue tackles some of teenagers’ deepest insecurities and provides insight into the amazing art our generation can create. Our goal with this magazine is to open conversations about bodies. Whether tackling human bodies, bodies of water or governmental bodies, we wanted to create a space where voices across all spectra could express themselves. We pushed ourselves to go deeper than the physical body and to explore personal truths that are inherited from past generations and seldom shared with others. Especially this year, having the motivation to create art was difficult to find, yet artists and writers created works that stood out and reflected where they stood along their journey. If you are looking for a place to publish your own art or writing, check out the back page for submission information and a description of our next theme: the unknown. Isolation of Smile by John Dale Table of Contents Front cover Beauty is Pain by Alex Braley Inside cover Of Questions and Answers by Ayesha Asad Classical by Brianna Bona 1 Isolation of Smile by John Dale 2 Connection by Tyler Phothirath 4 claymation in six scenes by Christine Baek Dream by Adib Rabbani 5 Life as a forgotten piece by Savannah Bright The Peeper by Riley Peters 6 Clamshell by Sophie Esther Ramsey Release of Joy 13 252 by Emma Anderson 21 Duplex: Headwater by Isabella Passantino Curves by Alex Braley by Lukas Bacho Dolphin Skull 7 My Fear 14 A Piece of Me Died on the by Evangeline Ellingsworth by Hailey Slaughter 1 Train by Rachel Shela Reflections Sight by Lauren Blood 22 Ominous Gaze by Callan Latham by Alexis Linnebach 15 Hearing by Lauren Blood reversion & recurrence 8 Because Soap Will Save You by Samantha Liu by Brianna Bona 16 cheat codes An Automaton Teaches by Sofia Calavitta 24 St. Jude by Grace Ashley You How to Code Anorexia Parallels by Madison Clark Luda by Evelyn Goering by Julie Pham 17 Body by Elena Unger 26 Brown Stars 9 private poem Drama Queen by Anna Calegari by Yasi Farahmandnia by Madison Clark ice cubes by Arden Yum Older Than Artemis Myself at the Museum by Brianna Bona 18 The Sculptor by Emilia Gibbs by Mariam Khelashvili 10 Bleached Broken Pieces 27 Off to Prom We Go by Pranathi Charasala by Jamison Mills by Peggy Yin Self Portrait Hidden Feelings by Ashtyn Jones by Jamison Mills 28 The Beard 11 For my mother 19 Coronation by Rachel Stander by Arden Yum by Brianna Bona Breakfast Dinner Rented The Hand of Fair Share Alone in a Cabin, I Think Suit by Evelyn Goering by Indigo Ly of What Led Me Here by Ayesha Asad 29 Keep Your Composure 12 Don’t Blink by Tyler Phothirath by Isabella Passantino 20 I Am Not Afraid To Die Father by Gaby Kill neighbor’s shopkeeper bell by Chloe Chou by Yasi Farahmandnia The Wave 30 Pricked Fingers Longing by Peter Mombello by Indigo Ly by Isabella Passantino A Blade of Two Owners by Emma Steenhard 2 Connection by Tyler Phothirath 33 mother’s guilt 50 Affidavit with Language 68 Heaven, Hell, and by Stephanie Kontopanos from Whitman’s “Song Humanity by Aislyn Canady A Bicycle Accident of Myself” (Leaves of Standards by Alex Braley by Cheyenne Mann Grass, 1st ed., 1855) Don’t bite the hand by Lukas Bacho 69 Alien Test Tube that feeds; eat your by Carly Parsons words! by Indigo Ly 51 The Substitutes by Tyler Phothirath Back cover 34 the wind that brought my Comrades by Lukas Bacho body back by Eva Parsons 52 Skinned Apples Currently Ancient Reaching by Sienna Sun by Cheyenne Mann by Lyla Dietz 35 Lunar Wonders 53 The Bathroom Vampires by Lyla Dietz by Emilia Gibbs 1980s Coke Party 36 Nadia by Evelyn Goering by Billie Croft Emilee by Evelyn Goering Egghead by Indigo Ly 37 Sweetheart by Gaby Kill 54 Cigarette Constellations by Avalon Felice Lee 38 Pluck by Tyler Phothirath Mexican Identity by inheritance Ana Gutierrez by Elliot DelSignore 55 On Nudity by Laya Reddy 39 Watercolor Lady Taste by Lauren Blood by Adib Rabbani Oasis by Samantha Liu 56 Destination Unknown photo credit: Graham Cotten by Adib Rabbani 40 Outside by Tyler Phothirath Silence by Gaby Kill issue xviii is dedicated to aunties’ feet by Olivia Williams 57 It was just red by Gaby Kill Franny Choi Touch by Lauren Blood 41 Let the Rain Keep Falling Johnson County Library is by Ayesha Asad 58 Riyadh by Billie Croft Woman With Fox Trap Strooms by Arianna Allen honored to dedicate this issue of by Emilia Gibbs elementia to poet, essayist and 59 where sweat accumulated beacon Franny Choi. In a year 42 Venus’s Apprentice by Olivia Williams where virtual blood, sweat and by Sarah Walker Beautiful by Alex Braley tears were all we could give, Choi Venus by Eileen Kim showed us a way of integrating Bird by Eileen Kim 60 Artificial Dreams by Isabelle Shachtman the code but softly shredding the 43 I’m Balding by Kechi Mbah Hyperventilation control panel, standing up and Silence of the Enchanted by Alison Hamin Kim surrendering at once, and voicing Woods by Brianna Bona the empty vessel with breath and 61 Breathe by Bethany Allison love. Choi gave us new methods 44 Loud by Zoe Cott by Lukas Bacho for writing and feeling, and we Sewn Apart 男扮男装 hope what we’ve collected here by Isabella Passantino 62 Waiting for Invisibility by Avery Russel will show that our bodies (in 45 31 Lines for 31 Days of Mayan Warrior whatever form they take) build Knowing You by Ana Gutierrez the future just as much as live by Olivia Humphrey inside its potential. 63 Bodhisattva by Billie Croft 46 A Story in the Perspective goodbye by Arden Yum In her book Soft Science, Choi of the Love Interest Sick by Abby Smith writes, “Even blood, when it by Julie Pham comes down to it, is only a series 64 Birds Eye by Madison Clark 47 Fashion Show taxonomy of two girls of rules” (“A Brief History of by Emilia Gibbs by Jessica Liu Cyborgs”), and in this we learn A Wish by Kenna Heller that our bodies are as much a 48 My Past Self thing to rebel against as to take by Ellison Lewis 65 these ink-stained hands refuge within; we build the future by Kristy Kwok with bodies just as we live and 49 60s Polaroid occupy their possibilities. Franny by Ellison Lewis 66 Skelly Bird by Evangeline Ellingsworth Choi, we are, in gratitude, your Guarding the Pour listeners for life. by Alexis Linnebach 3 claymation in six scenes flexes a muscle. It feels so normal, no phantom ache by Christine Baek or searing pain, that Margaret from the first moment 1. when she had palmed the chunk in her hands could Margaret finds out she is made of clay when she have ignored it and kept on living. presses into the crook of her elbow and pulls the But she doesn’t. flesh right off. 3. 2. Her father’s face is an oil stain in Margaret’s She doesn’t tell anyone — not her older brother memory. She tries to wipe it away, but his face keeps who is no longer a boy but a man buried under six sticking the way it always has for the past five years feet of paperwork, and not her mother who is buried he’s been gone.