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Original artwork by Lisa Widdess

the weight of the wrists

jamilla vandyke-bailey
Featured • Poetry
August 30, 2022
NiftyLit #3
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you are alive and have weight

and you are here, so feel the floor

how the force of linoleum pushes up

as the worn-down soles shove down.

 

this is it. gravity and physics and reality. 

 

and you are gravity and physics and reality. 

 

and isn’t this beautiful? and frightening?

this beatbeatbeating beneath your wrists;

it’s delicate and wild and turbulent and here.

 

and so are you and so are you and so are you

jamilla vandyke-bailey is a 29 year old, pro-black feminist who uses her writing to provide a voice for silent traumas, and to, hopefully, create a sense of belonging amongst the misfits. she has had work published in Tasteful Rude, Hash Journal, Santa Clara Review, etc. her collection of poetry, than we have been, was published by Weasel Press in fall of 2021. follow her on instagram @alli.maj

Lisa Widdess is an artist and an art educator. It is an honor for her to help children find joy in creating and appreciating art. Much of her work is inspired by the sea. With a new painting, the first touch of my brush to paper transports her to a walk along the water’s edge. The flow of paint to paper feels like shifting sand under foot; waves rushing in to pull her out to sea. Like a pendulum, Widdess’ art swings between the loose flow of watercolor and the firm control of ink; her work is steadily moving and never lingering.

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Suggested Reading

December 2024 will be our last issue, but previous publications will continue to be available for reading. Visit our archives to browse great art and writing.