Crispin Rodrigues
Contributor Biography
Crispin Rodrigues is a poet, short story writer and essayist. He is the author of three collections of poems, Pantomime, The Nomad Principle and How Now Blown Crow, which were published by Math Paper Press. His poems, short stories and creative non-fiction have been featured in Kepulauan (2014), A Luxury We Must Afford (2016) and Eunoia Review, among others.
Scar Healing
What we cannot cover must be left
in the open for the winds to heal.
There is magic in this: to sleep in infection
and wake up with a line where a split
used to be, now a scar or a scab sealed
by sleep, as if the night itself is a doctor
ready to patch you up before the day eats
you alive. I wrote in my journal All my cuts
and bruises will mend themselves in time,
and woke up to missing pages, as though
the secret should not be revealed. I’m tearing
myself apart intentionally, just to see whether
midnight nurses me, or if I’m trying to sleep
more easily. Either way, I’m closing wounds.
Matthew Christopher Zhang
Contributor Biography
Matthew Christopher Zhang used to ply his trade as a copywriter, but a longing for greater freedom in his writing led to him trying his hand at poetry and prose. As a 20-something living in tumultuous times, Matthew revels in pondering the human condition and sees writing as a means to find his way in the world. Matthew is currently pursuing a BA in English Literature at Nanyang Technological University.
dying of the light
a firefly has died
tonight. Its worn-out corpse hangs low
over the town; a guardian angel, a lonely reaper.
lightning in a bottle.
the night exists,
cold and electric
light illuminates the streets below.
the scars on its body lie
dormant,
if just for the moment, threatening
to burst open
and spill secrets and unsaid things.
unreliable wings, covered
in images that tend to stay
still, it tried to fly.
but now in the end
-less dream, in this world of nothingness,
beloved hope will lose its light.
it only takes
one step.
so he takes a small leap of
faith and the streets welcome him.
inky blackness
granting him rest.