Fiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Fighting for Life by Samantha Guzman he cold metal chair on the back of my thighs keeps me distracted from the growing pain in my stomach. I tilt my head back, take small, deep breaths, and rub my swollen hands over the top of my belly in firm circles, just how Simone likes, keeping us both calm. In the almost two hours I’ve been sitting in ...
Read MoreNonfiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Epistemic Injustice Is the Problem We’ve Been Overlooking by Leah Rosen pistemic injustice. You may not recognize the term, but trust me when I say you have experienced it. Essentially, epistemic injustice is the force which renders someone’s voice—or, more broadly, his or her declared experience—either more or less credible than someone else’s. If we break down the term into its two constituents, “epistemic” is derived ...
Read MoreNonfiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 A Woman’s Pain by Karen Mann Dr. Clay sat looking at this his computer screen. He was not my favorite of the two doctors at my primary care office, but Dr. Baylor was not available and I needed to see someone quickly. My cluster headaches had returned after several years of remission. I needed to start some preventative meds before they spiraled out of control. I ...
Read MoreNonfiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 A Letter to Aunt C About Depression by Jeanine DeHoney “We must bring the issue of mental illness out into the sunlight, out of the shadow, out of the closet, deal with it, treat people, have centers where people can get the necessary help.” —John Lewis will always remember sitting with my late Aunt C when I was a little girl, talking about anything and everything. Sometimes, ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 The Results by Rue Baldry lot of fuss being made about a little cough. Just a summer cold; that’s all. Hanging on through autumn, it is, but nowt to it. After everything he’s survived, it’d be mad if it’s this that sees him off. Albert lights up a cigarette. He should have time to finish it before Edgar gets home and starts nagging him about it. ...
Read MoreFiction Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Someone Should Tell Him by Gordon Sun he 4-North nursing station was deserted, an eerie silence permeating the ward. Slouching in a battered rolling chair, I dialed intensive care. I drummed my fingers on the table as the computer strained to load the hospital’s outdated medical record system. The line connected after three rings. “Dr. Bhargava, ICU,” a man said in a hurry. “Dan Briggs, surgery resident, returning ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Two Poems by Rhiannon Hall Theirs Alex has ++++panic +++++++++attacks +++++this is +++like +++++++++++one of ++theirs I sit in the back of class with friends teacher is talking about sexuality, gender identity after five students tried writing from the perspective of trans characters I push away, to disappear into the back corner I remember a beach, lit sunset-orange Alex explained they identify gender fluid, pronouns they/them/their juice from our crocodile burgers dripped on sand, pooled between fingers, mum and dad cuddled Alex, I said I loved them now, unexpectedly, +++++++something’s wrong +++it wasn’t ++++++++++++++before maybe +++++++my cisgender worldview ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Three Poems by Ron Riekki the prison near where I grew up keeps getting bigger just like the casino near where I grew up how it just explodes in size, how it’s bigger than my hometown now, how a neighbor lost his house to the casino and ended up in prison and how the casino eats houses and how the prison eats people and how hungry the hospital is, nearby, where I work, how the hospital eats houses and people and how ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Three Poems by Joe Amaral Come Passion I perform a case study on myself to see where my lack of compassion drops anchor from the vessels portholing my heart cabin. I am numbing like an addict. My vices drowned, internal caves: nerve delay and wave turmoil bobbing beneath the driftwood debris of me. Passion wells, a misdirected squall, and what the tide drags to shore is a drenched self I cagily abhor crawling away from beached scrutiny. I must ...
Read MorePoetry Issue #6: Bias November 20th, 2020 November 20th, 2020 Godly Hospital by Anthony Butts Godly Hospital —Composed while admitted as a patient at CMC-Randolph psychiatric hospital Seasonal missalettes lay stacked on an end table in a Charlotte mental hospital at four a.m. I have slept all I can once again. The dream was deep, my own voice singing solemnly “in a Ford SUV” as I chased women in the silly ways of days past. I walked alone, as I awoke, my money squandered, ...
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