Richard LeDue

“A bird flew into my living room window.
Too small to break the glass,
it had no choice
but to land after the crash,
quivering,
waiting to die”

Heather Hughes

“The six feet between us was impassable, and drowned out a lot of what we needed to express to each other.”

Taylor Dann

“I know what it's like to spend time alone. I never knew how to spend alone time.”

Koss

“I spent two days alone with no phone
haunting your apartment after you died.” 

Koss

“tension the silence slice it even”

Fizza Abbas

“Yeast of misery, flour of abuse:
a loaf of bread, too, can amuse.”

Yasmilka Clase

“Grey wolves prowl on West 145th Street
they hunger for the fragmented Janine”

Laura Owens

A poem for candles that burn twice as bright.

Ryan Mayer

Between a bar and a church, a stray cat offers absolution.

Thad DeVassie

“Not going felt like forfeiture, giving permission to lose a year in the midst of losing a year.“

Ian Macartney

Even light pollution hovered below the darkness
negotiating with its formidable opponent,
the atmosphere.

Oelania Rubino & Stephanie Gaitán

As we worked through this series, editing the stories and reflecting on their contents, it became an opportunity to reflect on our own relationship to this vibrant and complex homeland.

A selection of art and photographs provided by the contributors and editors of our Canela Pa’ el Café series.

Chantal Castillo

Why not?

Stephanie Gaitán

“Mamá came to lift the curse that was placed upon Mami. ‘Te hicieron brujeria. Te echaraon un polvo en tu cama.’”

Angela E. Oliva

Mis dos criaturas crecen sin su madre
y mis brazos se marchitan y caen a pedazos.

Ayling Zulema Dominguez

“Es que tú te asfixias, hija,
my dad says with a soft smile that divulges a degree of pity I find silly.
I know that I love too damn much and too damn hard.”

Natalie Hernandez

“I’ve made multiple sancochos ​with the failed relationships my heart has harbored.”

Yasmilka Clase

“film reel captures birthday wishes
hands clap in unison as they hover over me
lips pucker up against candle
listo, sopla!”

Oelania Rubino

“I met The Witch when Papi took me to a colmado in Pueblo Nuevo. He would buy me chocolate and papitas as long as I didn’t tell Mami where we had gone.”