patchwork i S S U E IV
Dear Reader,
Here is iSSUE 4: Patchwork, brought to you with love. This time around, contributors were encouraged to submit their best, most creative pieces, which were then threaded together by our editors and patchworked into a colorful, cohesive fourth issue.
This issue also coincides with the graduation of our leading staff members, including our two editors-in-chief. In order to honor the birth and existence of NAi under current staff members, collage artwork on the part of senior editors is woven in throughout the issue. The formatting of pieces also follows a scrapbook design, with funky, nostalgic elements that communicate a retrospective sentiment.
Lastly, as always, thank you to all the talented writers and artists who submitted their work to this issue. We hope you enjoy this patchwork of art, writing, photography, and memories.
Emma Lu and
Catherine
Xue Co-editors in Chief
by Yifan Zhang
Sunlight:A Riddle
I am falling upon the world with wide eyes,
Erika Lee
driftwood, specks of sky sand, tumbling over the tree branches. I drift apart like waves at noon, I sink softly into the ground as if the weight of the world was above me. (But softly, yes, always softly). I wrap around houses and skyscrapers and office buildings that seek to break the dome of the sky into a thousand greedy pieces. I wreath the tiny growing things with the crowns of life, I travel from places you can't imagine, I exist everywhere all at once. (But everywhere is nowhere, didn’t you know?).
I float through your window, rest on your
Desk, and crawl over your hands with warmth—I am setting
in a glorious explosion of fire. (But not really. You just can’t see me anymore. It’s all for the dramatic effects). And you mourn my absence, on some instinctive level. But you have already replaced me with harshness and anxiety, fizzing crackles and electricity, and now you are free to run down darkness in a fast-paced frenzy of consumption (want) as you sit there with your wide eyes—
Where has the light gone?
Answer: It has gone nowhere. But perhaps you are just too blinded by darkness to see it).
where has the light gone?
Too Busy to Live
My seconds are numbered
My body is not dying
But it is eroding under the pressure
Every minute wasted is another metal slab on my back
How many hours can I fit into a day?
24 is not enough
Stealing time from my sleep
Still it is not enough
Cancel plans or go with a shaking heart
I should not be doing this
Every moment determines the future
Everything I touch causes a butterfly effect
No time to waste
I cannot do it
I am far too busy to live
by
Callisto
by Karen Daly
That’s what I hear. Its too late. but i’m struggling
It’s already too late
You’re already in your sophomore year
You should have had it figured out now, you won’t make it
You need to figure out what to do
Be a doctor, or a software engineer they pay well
Or you can be a lawyer or is that too hard for you?
This is why you should’ve started earlier but now it’s too late
You’re too dumb to be a scientist
How about you go work at Target instead?
You’re don’t have enough to be a dancer
So why don’t you go work at Burger King
You’ll be on the streets
I will not have you.
You're too much of an embarrassment.
Just worried for you
What do you mean you have it hard?
You’re only 15. Don’t be dramatic. Get up and start working
But why do I never hear the words "It’s not too late"? I have it hard
do
I’m sorry I don’t have it figured out I’m too focused on my dropping weight I’m trying I swear But all this self-doubt I can’t handle it
Guess this is my fate
My therapist says it is getting worse
Just keep going
And you have to be fierce
But from where do I get the strength?
I'm struggling no one to help. with by
M.S.
BEES... and honey
3D Blender work by Vincent Shao
Remains of a Forgotten Past
by Diana
3 words that slowly turns empty. We used to talk about the thoughts that would raid our mind.
The thoughts that the mirror would whisper to us every moment that we stared at it.
The numbers that appear on every bite
Maybe if you ate less you wouldn’t look like that And so
Every bite became less and less
Each workout became longer and longer
2,000 calories turned to 200
And yet
The demon that stared back at me was Never satisfied
The thoughts still invade my mind
You’re sick
But I can’t seem to stop anymore
The numbers became venom in my veins
So sweet seeing 0s
0 bites entering my body
0 calories
0h, sweet venom
How did you become my paradise?
~ en ~
created with white clay, underglazes, clear glaze, and wire
by Anya Clemente
Collective
by Yasemin Tingleff
cat’sgradcap!
1. decorate grad cap
2. take pics (mom will make sure this one happens)
3. don’t fall on stage (please)
let’skeepintouch?
thank youContributors
M.S.
Yifan Zhang
Erika Lee
Zara Azeem
F.W. Karen Daly
Vincent Shao
Beverly Jin
Diana Anya Clemente
Yasemin Tingleff
issue 4Credits
Emma Lu
Nitya Masina
Sneha Moudgalya
Isabelle Charernruengkit
Nooriya Vanak Zara Azeem
Catherine Xue
Erika Lee
Sumana Sri Manikala
Maia Taylor