-ELLERY PRIDGEN

I have always had a hard time keeping this body in good condition. I saw scaring as a lifelong lesson in what not to do. When I was a young boy I loved to pull off dangerous stunts for the sake of the adrenaline rush. I would bomb down hills on my scooter just so I could jump over the grate at the bottom and see if I could make it over without a wheel getting caught in one of the holes. As I grew older I began to understand the consequences of my actions and how they could lead to more consequences down the road. I gained my first memorable scar on my knee. I slid across the pavement on a rainy Seattle day while playing football. Skin tore from my leg and the mole that had once settled at the center of my knee cap was now gone, leaving nothing behind but blood. But I didn’t heed the lesson I should have learned that day. Instead I went headlong into creating more scars on my body. I joined the youth football team and then the highschool JV team. Before I knew it, pain was a part of my very being and scaring was occurring on body parts I didn’t even know I had. After I got out of highschool and ended the relationship I had created with pain and football, I tried to take better care of this body I own. But I have never been able to grasp the idea of avoiding injury. A year after highschool at a new years eve party I accidentally put my hand through a glass window. Blood dripped from every finger on my hand and the white shirt became red, leaving only the back white. Of course I saw this as no cause for concern and, because of the lack of bandaids, found myself covering my hand in duct tape to conceal the damage to my hand. Ever since then I seem to be at war with my hand. I have scraped the palm, burned the wrist, and, most recently, temporarily disabled my pinky finger by slicing into the tendon while cutting a lemon in my hand. Soon I will be getting older. I don’t know what kind of injuries and scars I will gain as I transition into the later stages of my life.

But all I can think of is how these scars and injuries from the past will begin to affect me as my memory of how I got them begins to fade and the skin around them begins to wrinkle.

- KEISUKE MAKI

YOU WANNA SEE HOW FAR DOWN I CAN SINK?

I think I got the idea

NO JUST LISTEN LOOK AT THIS. WATCH

Okay

Yeah I see you

Yeah I can see you

LOOK I’M GOING DOWN.

CAN YOU SEE ME?

I’M GONNA COME BACK UP NOW Okay good

I’M COMING UP

Are you stuck?

Are you stuck?

Yeah gimme your hand

Come on

NO I GOT IT

I’M STUCK

NO I CAN GET IT

I’M CLIMBING OUT RIGHT NOW

I’m putting on the black dress and I’m pressing myself through this crowd like a bug swimming through water. Are you proud of me? I’m eating the skewered vegetables cooked until they’re soggy and falling off the stick and falling into my throat and it’s covered in oil when someone asks me where I’m working now. Oh I’m locking up the baseball diamond at night thanks for asking but my throat is slick and filled with olive oil and the words aren’t coming up just now. Everyone’s wearing black and the floor is wobbling under the heels of these thick slippery shoes and my stomach is dripping down out of my skin onto the brown parquet and the acid is leaving holes where I’m standing. I don’t know the bride or the groom and I think someone should have told everyone not to wear black because we all look ridiculous.

OKAY I’M UP Okay good

AW

Man I Ripped My Jacket

I asked if you wanted help

You’re all dirty

-

WELL I DIDN’T