Reflections

By Min JI, Women’s Writing Program What made you so sad?What made you so mad?Is it something I said Is it something I did (and keep doing)That resurfaced a deep wound That never healedFrom your childhood? Was your dad never on your side?Did you feel alone against the worldWithout the groundingOf someoneAlwaysHaving your back? Did they make […]

Say Yes to You

By Mira Hubly, TIWP Student Say no to perfection,No to constant negativity,No to toxicity,No to people who squash you down to less than you are. Say no to scrolling and that hypnotic blue light, No to letting the clock tick,Yes to more time for you. Say yes to you, yourself, and you first:Your energy, beauty, and light. […]

Blackhole

By Elana Joy, TIWP Creative Writing TeacherWritten for NYC Midnight Rhyming Story Challenge 2023 The Autumn semester was halfway through and midterm exams were soon to be due. In the campus cafe students convened; over laptops and coffee they careened. I’d left my devices back in my dorm, needing a break and to drink something […]

Abuse(of) Nature (an excerpt)

By Jessy Wallach, TIWP Student There is a girl living at the bottom of the village well. There is a girl flickering in the fluorescent light of the metropolitan train station. There is a wrist bone buried in the dog house and a hair caught in the hairline fractures of every gum-spotted inner city sidewalk. […]

Fin

By Jessy Wallach, TIWP Student It was July, warm, a few days too late for a Virginia Woolf novel, but we could still feel its residue on us like stardust. Red white and blue flags, red faces of uncles in tight blue polo shirts that strained to hide their barrelled bellies, white wine poured too […]

Ocean

By Min JI, TIWP Women’s ProgramThe crashing wavesThe calming sunsetThe beautiful phosphorescenceThe cycle of its tidesThe stillness of its depthThe home of all living things  The connector of this earthThe mother of all things Iam the ocean I am deepI am vastI am calmI am powerful This moment is a stormIt will not swallow meIt will […]

Wild

By Min JI, TIWP Women’s Program I was always a good girl I followed the rules I got good gradesI was kind to others I caused no trouble I stayed quiet I stayed small  It was the least I could doTo make my mother happy To make her sacrifices worthwhile The secret tears She thought she hid from me The bruise on her faceAs […]

The Ghost (An Excerpt)

By Lucy Brock, TIWP Student Prologue I scan the empty roads. Nothing but the sound of my footsteps and the whistling of the trees fill the air. It is an unnerving feeling, when you go from a bustling city to the empty roads of a deserted town. I had tried to leave, to leave the […]

Chaos

By Cleo Springfield, TIWP Student Plans, plans, plans. Try to get your friend to sign up for the same club as you. I should probably ask about how my friend is doing with her new pet. I should finish my book, but I found this other really cool one! Oh wait, right after school I’m […]

First Days

By Ava Moga, TIWP Student College apps,AP classes,And grueling study sessions Extracurriculars, Sports, And volunteering Saying goodbye to my friends,Walking across a stage,And being handed a diploma,A piece of paper that tells me I’m finally allowed to leave Walking away from not only tearsInsecurityAnd heartache But also laughsGossipy gabbingAnd hugs Walking into A world Where I don’t know my […]