Green Issue 2021

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2021

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Gutter Magazine

March

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contributors

VVVVVVV

2021

Emma Pesin

Glenn Federico

Preston Halpern

Jasmine Ferrufino Kerry Madison Emily Christ Gia Shakur

MARCH 2021

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letter from the editor PLANT PARENTS, PEOPLE IN GROWTH, AND YOUNG ADULTS WHO MISS ICE CREAM TRUCKS, Last March my Mother, boyfriend and I, newly quarantined and bored out of our minds, started obsessively watching those home renovation shows on HGTV. We could burn through almost a dozen episodes in one sitting, excited for a little relaxation time and unaware that the few weeks off from school and work would turn into a year unlike any other. It was in one of these shows that I heard a quote that has stuck with me, quite literally scrawled in the front of my sketchbook, for the past year.

“The plant growing out of the side of the house really concerns me.”

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Why is Kian sharing a very inconsequential quote with us from some HGTV show he watches with his mom? Well, to answer that question, I’m sharing it because at this moment I truly feel like we are all that plant growing out of the side of the house. Our lives have been turned upside down, but yet we are all growing (albeit in the quirkiest of places).

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I have always considered Spring to be a time of personal growth. But with the rise of vaccination rates both within our smaller and larger communities, spring has taken on a whole new feeling. Personal triumphs rival societal ones.

Vaccination appointments, taking a long walk, hugging your friend, going to a movie, even just showering are all victories worth celebrating. In a way, we’re all just plants and we’re all growing sideways and upside down and twisted and perhaps out of the side of a house. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but the growth we’ve undergone during this year will shape us for the rest of our lives.

As always, thank you to all the folks who submitted this month despite a general sense of chaos in the air. We appreciate you so much and you’re what makes gutter so brilliant. We couldn’t do it without y’all and this month more than ever we can experience the growing pains together.

Thank you to Bailey as well for being a great friend and coworker, you really are gutters heart. Take care of yourself this month, eat an ice pop, do your homework and try for some radical self care. I personally suggest taking a walk barefoot… trust me it really helps.

GUTTER LOVES YOU, Kian Tortorello-Allen (he/him) Bailey Hummel (they/them)

2021

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Gutter Magazine

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No Broken Hearts (left) & Hooked (right) Glenn Federico 2021

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The Encounter Emma Pesin Gutter Magazine

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babe found at coney My mouth smells like fish blood.

I was summoned by the hellcats of Coney banshee bruja crew The Beldams of Deadass when the rollercoaster lights blushed off they made a crypt in the sand cognac, leaf oil, spit and blood off a busted lip the petals of three foxgloves prayed me up from the bile of Yemaya a paste of manganese ghost crabs carried my vertebrae watch the kissing shark breath my lungs lady crabs suture my seashell teeth made of iron and calcified ambergris I washed onto shore tucked in plastic bags that said Thank You yellow ribbons bearing “CAUTION” bottle caps stinging my eyes and mouth made in the image of the woman of YAAAS my hair is a lazy black halo that whispers into my earlobes hue eyed cobalt They tell me I’m here to make it right again men raised by Soundcloud links swimming laps in tarns of midnight colored swill women hula hooping through the rib cages of other women babies that will not come “I know.. not” spilled my salt-watered mouth.

“We will teach you,” they said.

Gia Shakur

2021

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Gutter Magazine

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Twisted, etching on paper Preston Halpern 2021

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You And Me And The Sun Kerry Madison Gutter Magazine

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cycle Clothes rattle in the dryer, the ones she constantly wore from my closet.

They make a bing, a bang, as they hit the metal sides. I thought she would take it with her when she left. But they linger here in my solitude, infiltrating my peace. The scent of her never leaving.

She smelled like cherry blossom when I first met her. My weakness, I told myself, but maybe it was her that made me weak.

The machine dings a melody. What was this the third time I washed them?

The stench hits my nostrils. The sweetness intoxicating me.

My growth was my problem, it was then, and it is now. My hand reaches for the black garbage bag as I throw the clothes in it, her essence entrapped as I tie it shut. I leave the black bag of memories in the bin, hoping someone else will love the clothes, her scent, and her; sweet Leila.

Jasmine Ferrufino

2021

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Gutter Magazine

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the house

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urky water filling the tub an inch from the top.

Wind pushing up against the ridged wooden walls. This building has been around long enough to know it’s barely standing. It has seen love, contempt and separation. It has watched new life grow from within then shrivel and die. Tiles align the wall beside the tub. Broken and cracking, they wish to be replaced.

Molding filled with bacteria. Soap decomposing.

Shampoo a year too old. This house needs to be revived with money that isn’t there. Candles glow in the dim winter morning. Tea steaming on the edge of the counter.

Clouds consume the sky beyond the window. Just another day. The house aches and moans. It calls out. We hear you. We know. We cry back to you. We tried to help.

But success is not given to those in poverty. The dirty struggle on. The only gold they see is when they mine it out and hand it to their employer who sits by watching, waiting for money they do not need. Beauty is within those who see the muck and slime of true reality. This house will fall apart. We hear you. We know. We cry back to you.

We tried to help. But this house has not a single regret.

It does not deny it’s fate. In fact it welcomes it. This house has seen the process of life. This house has served its one true purpose and that’s all it needs. Although it’s death could be prevented by a higher authority, it understands that this is reality. Reality is cruel but only because others look at reality as something it is not. The murky water releases its inhibitions as the tub soaks up the tears of the walls. Insolation excretes the misery it has obtained over the years. The doors scream at the injustice. This is it.

The time is now. This house has lost. We know. We are sorry. We cry back to you. We tried. The house silences our sobs, it is not afraid. It will go with grace. With knowledge.

It will finally have the pure and true freedom it longed for.

Emily Christ

2021

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THE BACK PAGE Paint ‘N Mocktailz

Friday April 9 from 4-6, Great Lawn

Patch Painting

Saturday, April 10 at 3, Outback

Spin Art Frisbee Making!

Wesnesday, April 14 from 1-3, D-Hall Tent

DIY Hand Scrubs

Friday, April 16 from 1-3, Student Services

Earth Day Air Plants

Thursday, April 22 from 1-3, Student Services

Showing of Disney’s ‘Soul’ Wedesday, April 28 at 7, Great Lawn

March 2021

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