STAGE FOUR
STAGE FOUR
STAGE FOUR
STAGE FOUR


Fatema Aftab


























STAGE FOUR
STAGE FOUR
STAGE FOUR
STAGE FOUR


Fatema Aftab

HEADER PHOTO: Heedful, Michael Moreth © 2024
poetry, aug 24, anniversary issue










I carry you
in the recesses of my mind
like how a brain
nurtures a tumor
or how a tumor
yearns for company

Your laughter ricochets around
its echoes clatter on the floor
like aimless bullets
in search of flesh

I see you in every passing reflection
between the marriage of blue and purple under my eyes,
in the ghost that wears my skin—
forcing it to drag its feet
from one sunrise to the next

My dear,
I am many things
but what I am most
is sorry.
I carry you everywhere,
it is less of a choice
and more of a sickness.










AUTHOR BIO
AUTHOR BIO
AUTHOR BIO
AUTHOR BIO


Fatema Aftab identifies as a 23 year old tall child that is too Filipino to ever be accepted as a true Bengali and too Bengali to ever be accepted as a true Filipino. As such, she finds herself immersed in her own musings in an attempt to construct her own definition of being. She can be found on instagram under the handle @fatimu.hhh




ILLUSTRATOR BIO
ILLUSTRATOR BIO
ILLUSTRATOR BIO
ILLUSTRATOR BIO




Michael Moreth is a recovering Chicagoan living in the rural, micropolitan City of Sterling, the Paris of Northwest Illinois.




HEADER PHOTO: Heedful, Michael Moreth © 2024
poetry, aug 24, anniversary issue









I carry you
in the recesses of my mind
like how a brain
nurtures a tumor
or how a tumor
yearns for company

Your laughter ricochets around
its echoes clatter on the floor
like aimless bullets
in search of flesh

I see you in every passing reflection
between the marriage of blue and purple under my eyes,
in the ghost that wears my skin—
forcing it to drag its feet
from one sunrise to the next

My dear,
I am many things
but what I am most
is sorry.
I carry you everywhere,
it is less of a choice
and more of a sickness.







AUTHOR BIO
AUTHOR BIO
AUTHOR BIO
AUTHOR BIO

Fatema Aftab identifies as a 23 year old tall child that is too Filipino to ever be accepted as a true Bengali and too Bengali to ever be accepted as a true Filipino. As such, she finds herself immersed in her own musings in an attempt to construct her own definition of being. She can be found on instagram under the handle @fatimu.hhh


ILLUSTRATOR BIO
ILLUSTRATOR BIO
ILLUSTRATOR BIO
ILLUSTRATOR BIO

Michael Moreth is a recovering Chicagoan living in the rural, micropolitan City of Sterling, the Paris of Northwest Illinois.
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