Welcome to Variability
Dear friends, feminists, allies, and accomplices, It is with immense pride that I present our inaugural issue of the Wild Tongue Journal with you. Variability is an intersectional feminist exploration of now–within, we feature works that respond to or reflect on the current moment: the COVID-19 pandemic, the movements for Black lives, the U.S. presidential […]
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Letter from the Interns
Needless to say, the Fall 2020 semester was not what any of us were expecting. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our day-to-day lives, and the risk posed to public health and safety has undoubtedly sparked major anxiety and unrest. While the pandemic has disrupted our lives in many ways, it has also brought self-reflection. Having […]
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3 Poems
Instructions for Helping It Feel Better (or at least different) 1.Rest, don’t just lay there with your eyes closed. 2.Don’t self-advertise, leave some things to be enjoyed by you and you alone. Take the stickers off of that water bottle. Rethink your next tattoo. 3.Try to come to terms with the realization that nothing lasts […]
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A Letter to My 25-Year-Old Self
You can’t go back— no matter how long you sit on that swing, knees folded against your chest. Pump your legs, if you want, pretend this is recess—bury your nose in your scarf and swing until you surpass the top rail and the chains frost-nip your palms— but you’ll still be you, after. Just colder. […]
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My Pocket Full of Moonshine
Before I even saw my vagina, the doctors saw it. They labeled me “female” based on what was between my legs, which later on would coincide with my gender as girl, now woman, cisgender. Vagina. My friends and I laughed when saying the word. I was scared to look at it, but I knew it […]
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The Cries of a Puerto Rican Nationalist
It is free the people under colonial rule My family is not your commodity The air we breathe is capitalist greed The residential lines that are zoned for people like my family, will never set us free We are complex, diverse, and multicultural in the most nonconsensual way We are products of white greed and […]
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2 Poems
Visiting the Witch Trials Memorial We still have our Salems. – Elie Wiesel Beneath the locust tree I ponder, pressing my back against its trunk. Another stone pulls my focus. No one wishes my ancestors were witches more than me, but, My God, the hangings and hysteria of it all. Will the final stone ever […]
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Tug of War
Artist Statement: This piece examines the complicated relationship between capitalism and the patriarchy. I was inspired to create the collage after reading “Always Be Optimizing”, one of the essays in Jia Tolentino’s New York Times Bestseller, Trick Mirror. She writes, “women are genuinely trapped at the intersection of capitalism and patriarchy – two systems that, […]
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2 Poems and Collage
Ashes It is eerie It is ominous It is aesthetically in line With the sunset Flashes of orange Frame the spraying of hoses Like misty clouds on the horizon It mixes in with the ash As I drive past It is the burning of the system A cultural collapse Destroying the Brick and mortar Of […]
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3 Pieces
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Artist Statement: I tell stories through illustrations that capture moments from my life. When I reach out to you, I want it to mean something. Growing up every word would stay caught in my throat, so I pretended I didn’t hate the silence. I sat where I was expected to; it was much safer […]
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The Given Heart
_____________________________________________________________________________________ Artist Statement: This art piece, titled The Given Heart, is inspired by a mother’s unconditional love, care, and sacrifice for her child through a heart transplant journey. Her unwavering fight and compassion is a testament to how greatly she loves her children. This endless devotion […]
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We Never Fell
Artist Statement: This is an original painting, although the hand is a copy of the angel’s in Da Vinci’s Virgin and the Rocks (1494-50). The painting explores my idea that if Eve never ate the apple and ‘we never fell’ then we must still be in Paradise and, therefore, what our culture is doing to the Planet […]
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2 Poems
Grand Central Station My girls and I step onto 5th Ave, And we don’t know when we’ll be back. It’s home to us, love shared between each other, As we make love to the city. Nine months locked up, And what made me feel alive? Making our way into […]
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Dream in Color
Am I allowed to dream in color? Allowed to break bread with another? Send peace untouched to distant lovers? As you stroke with vibrant hues May I stroke with what doesn’t mimic monotone? Am I allowed to dream on the unprecedented? As you look to the future I fear tomorrow Colors of depravity fog the […]
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End of a Poem I Fell Out of Love With
I am the obligatory veggie platter at the party– Waiting to be consumed And only touched when guests don’t know what else to do with their hands. They’ve discovered a discomfort I’ve determined to be mutual, And yet I remain… _____________________________________________________________________________________ Artist Statement: The full version of this poem mainly focuses on abuse, rage, and […]
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Beauty
____________________________________________________________________________________ Artist Statement: My intention in this photo was to represent the untouched beauty of the everyday person. There are a lot of people who do big things with their lives, but I wanted to show the importance of any imperfect individual person. The subject of my photograph is a mom in her 50s who […]
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2 Pieces
____________________________________________________________________________________ Artist Statement: As an artist, stories, leftovers and scraps are my life force. I’m a scavenger, telling stories through mixed media art, movement, music, and text to make reimagined meaning from catastrophe. I’m a “Detourist,” embracing unexpected routes as opportunities for creative growth, and the opportunity to build a culture based on empathy and […]
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Key
I’ve been stuck inside a cage of my own making, Nails scraping the stone walls Once in pursuit of freedom Now just to mark days gone by I was desperate, staring through the steel bars, Waiting for a kind soul to come, Key in hand, To let me loose Gold, silver, orange with rust None […]
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holding on, holding out
i grip onto sanity as hard as i possibly can, my knuckles turning white from the immense amount of effort it takes to hold myself up and prevent myself from falling thousands of feet into the endless pit of madness and despair. from the ashes tell me, is it possible for anyone to rise above […]
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