Art by Demont Peekaso Pinder
I Wish
By Allysza Castile ● 2019
Last night I woke up out my sleep and I cried for you. I tried to hold it in, but my tears just flowed like an endless river that would
West Saint Paul
By Roberto Sande Carmona ● 2019
Tengo un headache. Maybe it’s the combinación de lenguas en my head, on the billboards (espectaculares, dice mi abi), y en las conversations of people pasando por Cesar Chavez Street.
Art by Demont Peekaso Pinder
Survive These Evil Fates
By Valerie Castile ● 2019
Children are a gift from God, a small, innocent replica of ourselves. Our job as parents is to love, nurture, protect, and teach, to bring forth the great qualities of
Art by Christopher E. Harrison
Pet
By Kurt Schultz ● 2019
Kinda clammy, kinda wet, the goldfish kinda needs a vet. A little pale and looking ill, the doctor thinks she needs some pills. The pills won’t do, get a knife,
Art by Ta-coumba Aiken
When Words Are Not Enough
By Anh-Hoa Thi Nguyen ● 2019
For Philando Castile, his family, and our community He was no one to me, but never no body Yet in an instant he became every body Every body sacrificed Every
Art by Moriah Pratt
Philando Castile
By Norita Dittberner-Jax ● 2019
In that Cathedral atop the highest hill in Saint Paul, we gathered for Philando. He came on a white catafalque drawn by horses, his coffin carried up the hill by
Art by Sandra Menefee Taylor
If I Declare the Obvious
By Kayla Gray ● 2019
After Ada Límon’s “The Conditional” What if you stayed a little longer? What if you told the afterlife to shove it? What if I picked up the phone to your
Art by Tom McGregor
Glass Womb
By Rebecca Frost ● 2019
In the crystal hothouse to escape the cold I am here, at last. Wrapped myself in gray wool, blue parka, scarf, mittens, galoshes. Tissue in my pocket. Slipped just once
Art by Susan Solomon
Alzheimer’s Lament
By Georgia Greeley ● 2019
Right this moment, in this place, Mother doesn’t know me, her daughter; yet she is still glad to see me and talks gaily. She is happy and cared for. Right
Art by Ta-coumba Aiken
William Taylor, First Fiddler of Minnesota
By John Heine ● 2019
Who led a band in the Minnesota Territory known as “the favorite of the dancing public”? A Saint Paul resident, barber, and Black man by the name of William Taylor.
Art by Kristi Abbott
Listening
By Tim Nolan ● 2019
I learned about listening from my grandmother Ruth who allowed great silences to live and breathe in a conversation. She then would say the most apt thing, having thought about
Art by Peter Kramer
My Time as an Irvine Park Resident
By Patricia Kester ● 2019
My family once lived in Irvine Park, a community that was developed in the mid-nineteenth century by some of Saint Paul’s most influential families. It was an era of horse-drawn