Nightbird Zine Issue 03 - Home

N ightbird Z ine

A platform for creatives with connectionsto rural New York

N ightbird Z ine

Issue3: Home Published Spring2023

Front Cover Image: Alison Tyne

Image, pg. 5: Colleen Jenkins

Back Cover Image: Sarah Butler

Copyright 2023

All rightsreserved No part of thispublication may bereproduced without permission

Editors' N ote

Movingthrough grief, loss, pandemics, and depression but also sunrises, teawith friends, births, and gettingout of bed (even when it ishard), wepresent to you thethird issueof Nightbird.

Wearealwaysappreciativeof our readers, who support the effortsof thispublication and keep comingback. But thistime around weareextragrateful to our contributors, who have waited patiently for thisissueto bereleased.

?AlyssaHardyonbehalfofherself, ColleenJenkins, Lex Lanza, & HannahTaggart

home no longer aplace, but now afeeling

atight embrace thesoftest whisper tellingyou everythingwill be okay

sky blueeyesempty of clouds searchingfor theanswer in your own why? you whisper to yourself

avolcano formsin your toesand takesover your body

eruptingall at once burningevery pore every moleculeyou aremadeof clear, salty lava drippingdown your soot covered face leavingatrail tearsdrippingon your blackened hands

when you areleft with nothing- what isit you crave?

Alter

Hereisastarting. Hereisacigarette, isadry bean, isanight. Hereisan alter, achild. There?sall thisred slop soakingin thegrass. It could dry out by may - wethink it might. An alter isgoldenrod in december

all whistleand rust and still fuckingstanding. And oneday it isnot

And oneday wearenot pressed deep in thishouse, wrung with cheesecloth drippingon theshineof concretefloors Wearealter - weareout.

Almah said it could beso - that thefloor boardscould wrench themselvesup at thejaw that wecould heat themetal of screwsand from them

build aboat.

Oceansarecrossed. It?sdonedaily now.

Wedigup stonesoff which to eat and then bury them back in theearth weareunlikecrowswearen? t really watching It?smoreof theblade, themist of citrusrind on afever, hot as tongue. It?smoreof theskin beforesnakes.

Still, oceansarecrossed. It?sdonedaily now.

Homerearranged

Wallsramblinginto aCapeCod

Fifteen yearsof evolution

Wrapped up and passed on Blues, grays, and theghostsof who wastherebefore

Recorded in layersof paint

Underneath theground

In thecutsthewater carved into theearth when thedam broke

And Hadlock ran wild

Homestill hasthebluesand thegrays

With anew foundation

A different branch of thefamily tree

An independent card catalogof shared experiences

Threadingourselvesinto thewires

Thelining

Buildingon what laid down

Lettingit shine, renewed

Waitingfor all thefacetsto havetheir turn.

voldem ort is com ing and she is a wom an

walkingto my third childhood homeonly takesthree minutes. eight milesand thefield next to thehouseisfull of people. I check thethreemailboxeslikeI still livethere. nobody questionsme.

thefirst containsbakingsupplies. ared-haired girl reaches for thebrown sugar, getsscolded by her mother. I understand awoman surviveson themailbox food.

thefield issilent asI start down thedriveway. with this thought, someoneturnsavolumeknob. thesoundsof familiesat an amusement park comethrough slowly. I noticeI am walkingon wood, my stepsmakingneat, precisesounds. it dawnson methen, what thehousehas become. grateful, I proceed with caution.

under atree, I am both Harry and Hermione. wediscuss what wehavelearned. asher, I taketheOneRing, wind a strand of my hair through it. ashim, I giveher bobby pins to secureit therefor safekeeping. it?stimeto go. Voldemort iscomingand sheisawoman.

in thegarageI sneak past acart of food, snagginga chocolatebrioche. it isfor themailbox woman, but I eat someto makeit seem likeit isfor me. I try to leave unnoticed, but I am caught in atunnel. two men aretrying to hold thedoor closed against an angry wind. I huddle under ableacher, my cloak covered in dust, keep eatingthe bread.

It wantsjust thisbit of wood, embowered, beyond the shadowed roses. Peoplethey posed asmonies & rattlelesshere. They pockets isempty. Thewoods, bone-fretted with deader trees, toy with theidle blue-bright spring. Full of noises friendly, unspent by homesteaders, ascanopiesdistant dimmer-bluewill play their civilities: bread, artisans, afondlingtoo. Will want they overplayed to play lessannoyed. Lessmurmurous. To hell with them. Him & it isempty wood, no amusement afoot but thunder sucks& stirsthereservoir of hiswide, wired nerves.

Doesn? t even know thyself! Bad reader, worsefriend. So good at pretend it becamethepretended thing. When atrain grazed at our voicelessgrass, itsherald munch breathlessly burned our lowercasepeace Seemed to unfix it, loose, drainingsmaller solitude.

Jagged glassof aboy who materialized bravery in empurpled high-speech but hasno alphabet & no sound. In thecold valley with sword & dew still shimmering, I wasvast awake; likeadragon

I saw it rip & snap at thedawn.

Pleaseupkeep it, pry & fruit it out; restoremassto me. I wasespaliered to your wantingwalls. I remember, of course, it all: my mother?sgrief ismy own.

Present to meor took it by thecrooked root & ran.

Secluded, secluded, curious, bereft, in his tower did hesit, weepingyour otherworld, twirlingthegourd with hishackled hand.

That is, when them pulled apart you onenight, malformingsiren slid away to itssilencing beyond thetortured corn; motherlessmidnight, you reassembled fate& fableinto thetale of afenced boy. Them sirenswas longtinesliketails hedragged around & it washome. I am waiting & cryingfor you, hiding under thechairs. There's peopleslaughing all around. Please comedown.

They will tell you if your rainsnever stay but fetch & fusethehalf-held wind, fleet-cloud chase& wisp away, then littlejephy, with hisneedled heart & curled red ringlets hidingunder thechairs would beall solemn

& most alone

Don? t leavemenow, if I can claim myself with so much to resolve. I feel you in thesacrifice of ice. Why wereyou once tossed to sobs, dazzlingdark tears in aquilled river him crossed, melting I didn? t understand but I think I tossed you to them.

If you herenow, & I can devoteyou form, bemy stilled woods, homed alwaysbeyond theshadowed roses. Forgivetheway him red ringletsstrungyou out your enormoussky: let uskeep you here.

Chey Adam o isafreelanceportrait photographer from Oneonta, New York. Her goal asaphotographer isto makeher clientscomfortablein front of thecameraand promoteself love. Thisisher first published work. // Instagram: @cheyadamophotos Facebook: Chey Adamo Photography

Sarah Butler'swork oscillatesbetween several mediums, most recently expandinginto photography and installation work. The majority of her inspiration is drawn from thenatural world, and how human interactionswith nature shapeus, aswell asthe planet. Sarah received her BA in Environmental Studiesfrom IthacaCollegein 2015 and recently graduated with her MFA from thePennsylvaniaAcademy of theFineArts. // Instagram: @sarah.butler.art Website: https://sarahbutlerart.me

Raina Elizabeth

Invigorated by art

Alwaysup for adogsnuggle

Find meby thewater

// Instagram: @rainaelizabeth83

Jeff H oward wasborn in Norwich, NY & raised in thewooded hillsof Oxford, NY. Heenjoysreading, traveling, playingmusic & hangingout with dogs& cats. // Instagram: @roman a jeff

Lex Lanza (she/they) isalibrarian who recently adopted the sleek, velvety seal-pup of her dreams. Her favoritedaysarespent drivingaround theAdirondackswith her limegreen kayak and eatingpickled vegetables Sheisawareof mycelium and wants you to be, too.

Colleen Jenkins (she/her) isan artist who enjoysspendingalot of timeoutside. Sheloveswatchingthecolor of thesky change. Shecan often befound stitching, reading, or obsessingover plants.

Sophie M iller

Jam es R. M cI lroy istheowner of theprivatetattoo studio, Wolfhound Studio located at 269 Main Street Oneonta, NY. He graduated from SUNY Oneontawith aBA in Computer Art and has13 yearsexperiencetattooing. Heenjoystattooing and paintingfloral, ornamental, Japaneseand naturebased motifs.

H annah Taggart (she/they) isapoet and housepainter living on unceded Haudenosauneeland in Northernmost Appalachia. You can find them on aladder in Gilbertsville, behind thebar at theRed Barn in DanvilleSprings, or in afield somewhere lookingat thesky.

Alison Tyne

Em

Instagram