Hair a mess, eyelids heavy, and bags under her eyes: every day I would see my mom come home, looking like this, tired from a day’s load of work. My mother, who had me at a young age, was forced to raise and support me…
My name is Nawal, but I used to call myself Titan. If there was ever a moment when I thought the stars would align for me and my one wish would come true, it was a moment not taken for granted. I would always ask…
From the age of seven, when I first stepped off the train at Grand Central Station and took in a performance of Les Miserables with my mother, there has not been a doubt in my mind that my future would lead me to New York…
“They’re only words on paper!” I shouted as I closed my picture book with frustration. My mother would frown at my naive six year old self while attempting to explain the fallacy of my outburst. She’d try – to no avail – to convince me…
“Passionate people put pens to paper to produce poetry.” While a third grade teacher may gush over this sentence, most others would find it appalling. Nevertheless, the truth behind it is undeniable; poetry rises from the fires in people’s eyes and the passion in their…
If at any given moment there is not at least one child screaming, one dog barking, any variation of an alarm sounding and/or someone “practicing” an instrument they don’t actually know how to play, something is awry in my house. Generally, any kind of silence…
I round the corner into my cubicle and toss my coat on my chair. I chat with April as my computer starts up, and then check my Threads calendar, which is riddled with deadlines. My day could be filled with writing blog posts, driving over…
“I think we’re lost,” I said to my parents as I stood on the corner of 114th Street and Broadway carrying a large bag of luggage. I stopped confused as to where I was going. I knew I was close; I could tell by the…
‘Iman!’ My mother called me to the living room in a tone that promised nothing. She inhaled sharply and I knew even before she parted her lips to speak. Here was the single suitcase that contained the essential items I would need. Here was the…
Smack! Within a fraction of a second, my life was changed forever. A homemade slingshot snapped and launched a funnel and water balloon at an unimaginable speed directly into my left ear. Once I’d been hit, an incredibly loud whistling screamed through my head as…