SALTWATER VOL III
founders valerie guardiola
tatiana hart
monica helmick
corinn hillstrom
vincent contreras-iñiguez | @blooze_hound
emma heady | @an.art.galaxy
taylor paige | @taylorpaige.art
“an ode to the protestors who burned down that cop station” the kind of fun that sparks joy under flickering street lamps the very hair on my skin fluttering in the chilled night air – their own cries of solidarity may breeze early this year but my heart was unthawed before she turned all reaching sunflower towards those kindled flames though there are things joyous that are more symbolic – we still praise god for this it is the heat of the summer valley that quickens my soul a candle kisses the back of the mother’s face – my face also serene singing praise to the sparks flying over flickering street lamps to join the stars
penel alden | @penelalden christina srisrakorn | @christinafotografia
Hero(ine)s I can sadly count the positive male role models of my youth on my left hand However The strong inspirational female influence in my growing lifetime so far Will eternally require a book-keeper
vincent contreras-iñiguez | @blooze_hound
corinn hillstrom | @pacific.witch cameron | @hungmanarts
hunter smith | @creatonotos_
Still or sparkling I still hide from every white truck I see and spend too long drinking filtered sunlight You look different than the last time when we still got lost in the fog Morning is in full swing crying to my coffee cup a couple inches of tepid bath He doesn’t love water like me but still makes me laugh just to bring forth tears I no longer spend my time in caverns too deep to be explored by human minds poised to rip you from their depths, seductive like medicine The moon hasn’t given up on me and neither will the waves but my eyes are too heavy to help them along
And I can’t think of anything to wish for because you always beckon me home A little about me My water needs replenishing more frequently for I am bound by that unquenchable thirst passed down from my mother’s mother the poison hits differently But midnight was no longer a burden when I asked for directions~ Where the river sees her family meet me for the first time, clearly Let’s stand on the rocks and breathe drop our bottles and be one with the sea
lily kobabe | @tryingmybest_2 rebecca schiveley | @poetry.on.35mm
nicole cromwell | @nicolecromwellart adam gota | @adamgota
meditations on the sixth extinction As a subdued subordinate feature Of the vast harmonious landscape A majestic temple of stone hewn from my ossified bones Forms the underground labyrinth of my scant remains My ribcage reaches cathedral for burrowing beetles Their ocean surface backs both black And greener than my eyes ever were The question if decomposition is life Made meaningless by the beauty of sunsets Never again imprisoned by verse By unraked leaves The last sandcastle taken by waves The hard matter of my toes worships the roots now My hand’s skinless palm up towards heaven Is not enough to be read And yet is enough to cradle the worms Which dance through the dirt of my transformation
sebastian tamiano | @adpocalypse_dreams penel alden | @penelalden
A Childhood Remembered As a child, I felt one with the moon. Never too far out of my reach and always where I could see her. She was my constant parent and, I, the growing child. She raised me the only way she knew how: bathing me in her light and coaxing the water within me. She taught me to be soft and to seek the light. She showed me the vastness of this world and how to spread myself throughout it. She raised me with the other divine forces that have raised children of their own, my cousins and oldest playmates, like the wind whose children are the wolves in the trees that howl when she dances by. And the tide who brought up the crabs that pinch your toes to remind you that you are real. I grew and grew and grew into that wretched curse of adolescence And, as most adolescents do, that little mind of my own decided to replace her and I began to resent my mother. I distanced myself from her subtle might and sneered her name lest I be too soft for this side of the coil. And as I grew, so did the wedge I placed between us until my mother was merely the moon, a glowing rock 238,900 miles from me. She was unrecognizable to me. Now, I feel overwhelmed by the sight of the moon. Her gaze shoots right through me, daring me to look away.
taylor rhyne | @onbeinghuman9
She makes me yearn for something I’ve never felt, something I thought I could possess, something that should never be mine. She bades me to look for the secrets of the universe locked in the details because it wasn’t her that left me. She still raises me. She knows me. Her lessons were never done, our family was still vast, and each interaction with them felt like an introduction, a discovery of the knowledge they already knew I possessed. They knew I never really left, not permanently anyway. So, I smile at the mushrooms, feared gods in their own right. I weep at the foot of a fallen tree, for hers was life lost too soon. I sing to the patterns in the tea leaves that only ever tell me one thing: that this life, and every one after it, is on borrowed time. And soon, it will be returned and refiled into the annals of the expanse. But, for now, I will go mad pining for the moon.
taylor rhyne | @onbeinghuman9
raven cook | @ravenn.c rebecca schiveley | @poetry.on.35mm
THE SEED Just one seed gulped quickly. Burst on my tongue, but I only remember that in retrospect. In retrospect every step of its journey was monumental, precious, o ne step closer to forever half-flight. But hindsight, as I’m told, is twenty-twenty much better than foresight because the image has crystallized, frozen, solidified into beauty, or alternately, pain. Whichever rears its head first. The seed was small, just as all seeds that grow and bulge, eventually larger than previously imagined, begin. It was an afterthought. Inconsequential. But my mouth was hot. And my belly was rage. t than me. And something needed to burn more deeply The seed was my sacrifice, my loss, my despair. Not turned justice, not turned reward, it burned my insides, left trenches in my soul, angry gaping holes. I can go home, but it will never stay it moves as much as I do never never the same.
ashley shaffer | @ashleyshaffey natalia corazzo | @naticorazza
troy harcrow | @troy_harcrow
connie speer | @constance_acrylic chris powers | @chrispowers_chrispowers
connie speer | @constance_acrylic christina srisrakorn | @christinafotografia
deborah good | @dgoodfineart
rebecca schiveley | @poetry.on.35mm raven cook | @ravenn.c
A LOVE SONG He left because pride is stronger, machismo is brighter, adventure is wilder than love. No, he does not need to care for me or protect me. I lock doors quickly, I ply them with food. I will never fear the dark because it is my strongest ally. We hold hands and fray fibers together while sleep swiftly softens hearts, tummies, cocks. I do not stand at the edge of the world with loss in my eyes. I do not cry to the sea or pray to the gods. The salt of tears would only strengthen the angry currents and I will not do its bidding. He will not come closer and I will not push farther. He runs, I sit. My fingers bleed nightly.
ashley shaffer | @ashleyshaffey eden morillo | @edens_arts
I lost myself along the way Defending you from myself Now I lay here, ugly crying Struggling with my mental health
jessica carmen | @y0yeska yDeMoon | @iraymoon
golnoush pak | @goldfishsketches
eden morillo | @edens_arts jack wray | @jackwrayartist
alex ramirez | @alexram375
hunter smith | @creatonotos_ citrus poppy | @citruspoppy
notes on redwoods when they dream I’ll ask you if we keep going, over and over thru the trees with their arms climbing high, like they were reaching for a light that was blown out long before they made our diamonds into dust. You’ll answer like I’ve broken a promise, hearty and soulful but empty with room for dried flowers and buds from the lavender fields in your yard, ageless and swaying harmless in the breeze. And when you turn to say you love me, you bow your head like you’re telling a lie but I’ll wait for your eyes to meet mine and guide us home together.
valerie guardiola | @valerie.guardiola tatiana hart | @tjm.hart
contributing artists penel alden jessica carmen cameron citrus poppy vincent contreras-iñiguez raven cook vatalia corazza nicole cromwell deborah good adam gota valerie guardiola troy harcrow tatiana hart emma heady corinn hillstrom lily kobabe eden morillo taylor paige golnoush pak chris powers alex ramirez taylor rhyne rebecca schiveley ashley shaffer hunter smith connie speer christina srisrakorn sebastian tamiano jack wray yDeMoon edited by valerie guardiola tatiana hart