Pluvia Issue IV
Welcome to Issue IV of Pluvia
Welcome to Issue IV of Pluvia
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
A LITERARY ARTS JOURNAL<br />
ISSUE <strong>IV</strong> FALL 2022<br />
POETRY | PROSE | ART<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
1
2<br />
Rising Upon by Nina Tsai<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
By NAME<br />
BY EDISON CHEN
FALL 2022<br />
ISSUE <strong>IV</strong><br />
PLUVIA<br />
EXECUT<strong>IV</strong>E + EDITORIAL<br />
Maggie Yang<br />
Joyce Huang<br />
Priscilla Raitza<br />
Emily Li<br />
Alyssa Xu<br />
CONTRIBUTORS<br />
EST. 2021<br />
Amy Park<br />
Angelina Liu<br />
Brian Yoo<br />
Brian You<br />
Chloe Lin<br />
Christ Keivom<br />
Cynthia Chen<br />
David Tang<br />
Edison Chen<br />
Jenny Eun<br />
Jenny Zou<br />
Jimena Yengle<br />
Jingjie Chen<br />
John Muro<br />
Khaliya Rajan<br />
Laura Ferries<br />
Louis Liu<br />
Lynn White<br />
Martine Rancarani<br />
Natasha Bredle<br />
Phobe Chen<br />
Priscilla Raitza<br />
Rachel Zhang<br />
Ralph Lam<br />
Richard Xu<br />
Ruby Zhang<br />
Sarah Lam<br />
Sunnie Qiu<br />
Tia Li<br />
Vicky Nguyen<br />
Viela Hu<br />
YanQing Shen<br />
Cover artwork: Revive Tomorrow (P.22)<br />
Magazine Designer: Maggie Yang<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
3
TABLE OF<br />
CONTENTS<br />
5<br />
Editor’s Letter<br />
6 - 15<br />
In the strawberry field by Vicky Nguyen<br />
Wish by Jenny Zou<br />
eye of the storm by Chloe Lin<br />
Untitled by Brian You<br />
Psychoanalysis: A Self-Portrait by Christ Keivom<br />
Lost in Translation by Sunnie Qiu<br />
Running Water by Tia Li<br />
A Cappella by Laura Ferries<br />
Untitled by Sarah Lam<br />
24 - 31<br />
Fortuity by John Muro<br />
Fine Bright Line by John Muro<br />
heaven by Cynthia Chen<br />
Untitled by Sunnie Qiu<br />
breadth by Phobe Chen<br />
Othering Fortune by Ralph Lam<br />
Untitled by Jenny Eun<br />
birds by Martine Rancarani<br />
as a child by Cynthia Chen<br />
Embarrassment by Christ Keivom<br />
Clarinet by Sarah Lam<br />
16 - 23<br />
Piece of life by Jimena Yengle<br />
Untitled by Jingjie Chen<br />
August Rain by Laura Ferries<br />
Untitled by Priscilla Raitza<br />
UP & DOWN: The Pathway of Life by Viela Hu<br />
Growth by Jenny Zou<br />
Revive Tomorrow by see p.38<br />
32 - 39<br />
4<br />
Breathless by Lynn White<br />
How We Miss Understanding by Natasha Bredle<br />
Lost in Translation by Sunnie Qiu<br />
Untitled by Richard Xu<br />
At The Beach by Khaliya Rajan<br />
Untitled by Richard Xu<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
EDITOR’S<br />
LETTER<br />
REV<strong>IV</strong>E TOMORROW<br />
FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF<br />
As leaves fall to the rhythm of our footsteps in autumn and life lifts its curtains to let in the dawning<br />
light, the canvas holding our writing and art broadens as well, in hopes of a year gleaming with new<br />
colors and memories. In this particular issue of <strong>Pluvia</strong>, there are many pieces that resonate with daily<br />
aspects of our lives, whether it be personal memories or cultural traditions. From Vicky Nguyen’s<br />
poem echoing her memories of a strawberry field to Sunnie Qiu’s artwork shaped uniquely by her<br />
impressions of language, this issue is unequivocally evocative in that each piece has its own way of<br />
connecting and grounding the reader in experiences. When reading through and curating these pieces,<br />
my team and I noticed this common thread, and want to bring this to the forefront as you read<br />
through <strong>Issue</strong> <strong>IV</strong> of <strong>Pluvia</strong>.<br />
With an increased number of art submissions for this issue, I encourage you to take time to pause<br />
and dwell on the pieces as if each page was a wall in an art gallery—that behind the canvas or brushstrokes<br />
there are memorable and powerful emotions and experiences yet to be uncovered. I hope that<br />
through this issue you can discover a personal connection to these pieces, and possibly find inspiration<br />
or meaning in them.<br />
That being said, I am delighted to present to you <strong>Issue</strong> <strong>IV</strong> of <strong>Pluvia</strong>.<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
5
WISH<br />
In the strawberry<br />
field<br />
BY VICKY NGUYEN<br />
In the strawberry field, no one is worried.<br />
The sky is crisp azure, as if nothing could stop it from being so.<br />
The stretching beds embrace the horizons<br />
with their sweet kisses of tender strawberries<br />
Their after-kiss fragrance lingers in the air,<br />
filled the chickadee’s jubilant songs<br />
to harken the advent of summer.<br />
In the strawberry field, no one is worried.<br />
Little kids run around barefoot, their plump fingers clutched<br />
with a bucketful of crimson sweetness<br />
while their parents, tucked in crisp denim and flowing floral dresses,<br />
gaze adoringly at their exuberant enfants.<br />
The flashes from cameras overshine the sun,<br />
glittering the sparks of asphalt on the country road.<br />
In the strawberry field, no one is worried.<br />
Alas, I wish I could be so!<br />
Summer has come, yet my thoughts do not have wings<br />
to soar out of the reality entrenched<br />
deep into my soul, about what the future may hold<br />
beyond the strawberry field.<br />
BY JENNY ZOU<br />
6<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
7
eye of the storm<br />
BY CHLOE LIN<br />
our friend said she was like a tornado<br />
but thinking about it now<br />
you were the tornado<br />
i stumbled blindly into your whirlwind<br />
and kept spinning so fast in it<br />
that i couldn’t stop and was powerless to leave<br />
and even if i begged you to let me go<br />
you wouldn’t have heard me<br />
but every so often<br />
i was suddenly released<br />
into the eye of the storm<br />
where everything was calm and<br />
our friendship was good<br />
but before i could even savour it<br />
you threw me back into your tornado<br />
and it was the same thing again<br />
because you pinched me<br />
when i asked you not to<br />
you lightly punched me<br />
in the stomach only to realize<br />
(in awe)<br />
that i had a flat-ish stomach<br />
you didn’t always give me<br />
space just to talk<br />
and ignored me utterly and completely<br />
you sometimes said hurtful things<br />
ignoring my reaction and then my existence<br />
but you also sat with me<br />
at recess and lunch<br />
our backs pressed together<br />
as you drew and i wrote<br />
you loved some of my story ideas<br />
and the way certain words<br />
looked in my cursive<br />
do it again you’d say<br />
write it on the inside cover of my sketchbook<br />
and then you’d admire it<br />
like you had never seen cursive writing before<br />
and i was always admiring you<br />
for your courage and your intelligence<br />
how you were so incessantly impatient<br />
making things right when they were wrong<br />
when i was too scared to do anything<br />
yet simultaneously soft-spoken with<br />
the special needs student in our class<br />
the way your art looked and the fire<br />
that burned constantly in you<br />
how you were always honest<br />
and didn’t care about other people’s opinions<br />
i haven’t seen you or talked to you<br />
in so long that i’ve almost forgotten<br />
what our friendship was like<br />
and whether it was good or bad<br />
or somewhere inbetween<br />
in the grey area that defined<br />
almost all of my elementary school friendships<br />
and i’ve forgotten how much you’ve hurt me<br />
and if you even did at all<br />
because my memory is quite good<br />
at concealing the things i don’t want to remember<br />
and hiding the details so i forget<br />
but if you squint hard enough<br />
you’ll see the cracks and fractures you left me<br />
i’ve escaped your tornado now<br />
your whirlwind of anger and uncertainty<br />
your calm eye of the storm<br />
that never seemed to last long enough<br />
but knowing me<br />
i could be caught up in it<br />
just as fast as i fell the first time<br />
8<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
PHOTOGRAPHY<br />
BY BRIAN YOU<br />
By Maggie Yang<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
9
LOST IN TRA<br />
Psychoanalysis:<br />
BY CHRIST KE<strong>IV</strong>OM<br />
A Self-Portrait<br />
Forgive me, again, that I write you an elegy where a love poem should be- Brian Tierney<br />
They say it would hurt. And it does.<br />
I know not who said it and to whom.<br />
It’s true I can no longer remember the memory<br />
Or lack of memory for the way things were.<br />
It’s been a long time since the time-<br />
When we first met and the day you left<br />
Which never came to end.<br />
You walked in. As an event marked on the calendar.<br />
Your face- a wide palm leaf that<br />
Blocks the sun and briefly shadows the eye,<br />
Blurring close distinction, which did say to me<br />
“Memory makes for such an unreliable witness”<br />
Now, so long after that<br />
I kept the sound of it throbbing still<br />
Like a heartbeat of some years ago,<br />
The way music still lingers in the room<br />
In this circle of time which like a hand<br />
Guides you nowhere. I don’t think<br />
I’d recognise you or be recognised<br />
If I met you on the street, though in<br />
By Jingjie Chen<br />
The early part of my life. I thought<br />
The later part would always be you.<br />
How much longer I’ve lived and must<br />
Continue to live without you and not with.<br />
There’s never enough to writing after all that’s<br />
Been written. There’s never enough to saying<br />
After all that’s been said and left unsaid.<br />
And there’s no point in forgetting if it’s<br />
Not followed by dying. So how am I, to<br />
Abandon those little things I know about you<br />
When I know so little?<br />
After it has faded. As if to remind us:<br />
“Though there will always be new music<br />
Again, none will ever be as deep and<br />
Wide as this”.<br />
10<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
BY SUNNIE QIU<br />
NSLATION<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
11
RUNNING WA<br />
12<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
TER<br />
BY TIA LI<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
13
BY LAURA FERRIES<br />
A Cappella<br />
I piece together these jigsaw words<br />
thread them together in broken verse<br />
spaghetti sentences<br />
spun around my tongue<br />
tangled elegantly<br />
tagliatelle<br />
a language not so much spoken but sung<br />
staccato<br />
I season my accent,<br />
pepper my punctuation;<br />
marinate slowly the sentence formation.<br />
Meanwhile his English is crystal clear,<br />
distilled<br />
but still<br />
A capella<br />
I learn the lyrics<br />
I wing the words<br />
still songless birds<br />
raw in the word<br />
down to the bone<br />
unusual dictionary<br />
devouring the words, I nurture them known.<br />
14<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
BY SARAH LAM<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
15
BY JINGJIE CHEN<br />
By Amelia Lim<br />
HANDS<br />
Piece of life<br />
BY JIMENA YENGLE<br />
I’ve lost a stream of light<br />
The enchanted chorus of a song<br />
My piano key, G string<br />
a piece of truth<br />
Not the cup, not the thirst<br />
I have lost the heap of sugar that I kept in my heart<br />
My confessions, a comic face<br />
Every bristly actor’s dream<br />
His commitment, and my question<br />
I have lost a world of roses<br />
The sky that my little “me” painted<br />
Who guides Lady Liberty<br />
Who moves so many signs in the sea<br />
I have lost the prince of my carousel<br />
Who flies and forgets, the child of the good<br />
My essence of thunder, my ray of sunshine<br />
Who remembers the story of the rain?<br />
I have missed a part of this story.<br />
I only have to write again.<br />
BY PRISCILLA RAIT<br />
16<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
A Cappella<br />
August<br />
BY PRISCILLA RAITZA<br />
Rain<br />
BY LAURA FERRIES<br />
High July sun submits<br />
to August rain,<br />
summer soundtrack<br />
of water on glass<br />
and your beautiful name,<br />
in summer- and sugar rain<br />
crystals trickle down the window pane.<br />
Suspended time<br />
morning coffee to midnight wine<br />
intertwined<br />
night then day<br />
then day then night then day again.<br />
Skin on skin<br />
touch on touch<br />
I’m treading water, gilded,<br />
in a silver shiver, a river rush<br />
a dream awake, here we are awash<br />
in summer rain.<br />
It cleanses old sin,<br />
lets the freshwater in.<br />
We let go then we go again.<br />
ZA<br />
BY PRISCILLA RAITZA<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
17
18<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
UP and DOWN: The Pathway of<br />
Life is a mixed media sculpture<br />
that combines traditional Chinese<br />
ink painting with fabric<br />
painting and technology, creating<br />
a moving loop of people<br />
falling to explore — as the<br />
name suggests — the ups and<br />
downs of life. The work focuses<br />
on the experience of living and<br />
how it is the same for anyone.<br />
UP and DOWN:<br />
The Pathway<br />
of Life<br />
BY VIELA HU<br />
By Vanessa Chan<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
19
GROWTH<br />
20<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
BY JENNY ZOU<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
21
REV<strong>IV</strong>E TO<br />
By: Viela Hu, David Tang, Brian Yoo, YanQing Shen (Eric), Ruby Zhang, Rachel Zhang,<br />
Angelina Liu, Richard Xu, Louis Liu, Amy Park<br />
“Our ideas are expressed through symbolism of colour and shape where red strips equate to natural elements and strips of<br />
purple represent life itself. Blue strips stand for the essential elements of life, such as water. Land points to exploited earth.<br />
The ball is the key or button needed to recover our world. Why is it floating upon the ocean? The first sign of life came<br />
from the ocean. These uses of natural forms symbolize human attempts to dominate and exploit nature. The mountain<br />
refers to the Old Testament because humans desired to be on an equal footing as God, but were condemned. Colours and<br />
violent brushstrokes communicate a sense of frustration due to the destroyed land and the resulting atmosphere of despair.<br />
The structural impression of nature in harmony yields an idea of the organic sphere, so suggesting that the elements are<br />
key to reviving the future in our cycle of life. The audience can scan the artwork and thus symbolically revive the future.”<br />
22<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
MORROW<br />
Inspirations:<br />
- James Jean (art composition).<br />
- Francis Bacon (brushstrokes/<br />
colour)<br />
- Salvador Dali (expression, composition).<br />
To enjoy the AR (augmented reality) implementation on<br />
this work, please download the Artivive app<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
23
Fortuity<br />
Fine Bright<br />
BY JOHN MURO<br />
Now, just as the world<br />
wears out and night leaks<br />
into day, shadows sliding<br />
in silent trespass across a<br />
desolate landscape and a<br />
meager wind – day’s final<br />
wingbeat – settles under<br />
the eaves, hold close those<br />
bright astonishments that<br />
still beguile and bewilder<br />
and are sprinkled like rare<br />
tokens of hope throughout<br />
the world. Draw a certain<br />
comfort from those exquisite<br />
endearments and illusory fragments<br />
of dream-stuff that help to<br />
make our rush to ruin bearable;<br />
and then, for all that, tell me<br />
again, beneath the haze of<br />
woodsmoke and smudge of<br />
star light, how life will once<br />
again come to greenness and<br />
what form forgiveness takes.<br />
Line<br />
BY JOHN MURO<br />
Certainly, the far horizon<br />
dividing sea from sky<br />
with a sliver of silver light,<br />
or a falling star’s trail<br />
of tinseled filament at night;<br />
to the human eye,<br />
a slender wire strung,<br />
separating cloud from sail.<br />
But, no, I’m thinking<br />
of those imperceptible<br />
lines that separate<br />
the very makings of a life;<br />
those that, say, Fate creates,<br />
both strange and intangible,<br />
others of our own making:<br />
blindness and sight.<br />
heaven<br />
BY CYNTHIA CHEN<br />
comes in sips<br />
through rays of sunlight<br />
and patters of rain<br />
it comes in layers<br />
chocolate cake and turtlenecks<br />
feelings of certainty and self doubt<br />
swirled into the frostings<br />
it comes in whispers<br />
sweet nothings and mirrored promises<br />
forever is too short<br />
we’ll meet again in hums.<br />
24<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
BY SUNNIE QIU<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
25
BREA<br />
26<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
DTHBY VANESSA<br />
CHAN<br />
BY PHOBE CHEN<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
27
BY RALPH LAM<br />
Othering Fortune<br />
28<br />
Auw:<br />
Door handle far too small. Weary from immigration<br />
lines, stale coffee, and silver-lined tongues; the doorbell<br />
feels heavy. Digital rendition für elise pricks earlobes—<br />
stubborn attempt to keep past in the present. He swore<br />
he’d never live anywhere that has rain again, or anywhere<br />
that has enough humidity to embrace him. Light drizzle<br />
begins to pour down.<br />
Mom dressed in work attire; longer hours mean<br />
darker bags. No affectionate greeting; he’s come and gone<br />
so much that his return has lost all significance. He offers<br />
his luggage to Mom. She accepts and carries it through<br />
the doorway: narrow enough to keep you out, but also to<br />
lock you in. Air freshener seeps into his nostrils: the scent<br />
of shame, manufactured delight. She doesn’t say much,<br />
knowing he detests small talk. Three steps into the house<br />
and his eyes are already looking out the window.<br />
Windows: eyes to the soul.<br />
His eyes: two shades lighter than when he left.<br />
His soul: four grams heavier than the last time he<br />
checked.<br />
“Are grades out yet?” She asks, feigning sincerity.<br />
“Next Wednesday,” he grunts. His eyes twitch.<br />
Whether from fatigue or irritation, she could never tell.<br />
He was always an imbalanced mixture of both, an adulteration<br />
in perpetuum.<br />
“Oh.” She knew to stop prodding. He didn’t need<br />
to say any more: she shouldn’t say any more.<br />
Clambering, he seeks his room. Stairs covered<br />
with rough fabric, false promises of comfort. Welts of<br />
twine dig into soles—atonement for wrongdoings he hasn’t<br />
committed yet.The room is a blighted meadow, a Marie<br />
Kondo thought experiment taken five steps too far. Holding<br />
onto objects for too long, they lose their joy. He keeps<br />
his distance, living in impermanence.<br />
Bed sheets are striking azure. His body wants to<br />
say bye-bye: ashes to ashes, dust to dust.<br />
Thus, he falls.<br />
Mee:<br />
Awake now. Six nights since he was last gripped<br />
by sleep paralysis. He doesn’t know who to thank for that<br />
privilege. Slits of sunlight seep through the blinds. Marigold<br />
slashes across his skin; he has slept in again.<br />
Kitchen, mom’s detested sacrosanct. Doesn’t let<br />
anyone in. Doesn’t seem to enjoy being in there either. She<br />
preheats the oven, listening to the click click click of the dials<br />
instead of reading the temperature. She is, however, trying<br />
to read some packaging.<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
“I got you a Cornish pay-stee.” Her mouth chews<br />
on a mess of vowels and consonants: cacophonous breakfast.<br />
His instinctual wince.<br />
“They say pass-tee here.” His eyes sink to cold marble<br />
tiles: she could at least try to adapt.<br />
Correction ignored.<br />
“They like to eat a lot of frozen food.” Tongue<br />
tethered to Sham Shui Po.<br />
She cuts into the packaging. Pop! Ssss… He remembers,<br />
clutching his forearm: temptation, regret. In<br />
this body, he bleeds blue.<br />
An oven-treated pasty pastry, unappetizing in<br />
a 3-Star Yelp review kind of way. Knife puzzles around<br />
reluctant knots. He never told her how little he ate: how<br />
much of a picky eater he became. His stomach grew to<br />
growl four octaves deeper.<br />
Bite. It’s cold, so cold—frigid, even. His breakfast<br />
is a freezing blanket on a bleak New England morning. All<br />
plane tickets lead to shivering destination weddings. He<br />
doesn’t say anything, opening his mouth is too much of an<br />
inconvenience at this point. The plate is returned half-finished.<br />
He lusts after some mouthwash.<br />
Later, purple spat into the sink. He sees a cat near<br />
the window and wishes he had one: Siamese or Maine<br />
Coon. He’d name it Juno, Zephyr, or Chelsea, something<br />
that you would find eight scrolls down the Unique Cat Names<br />
list. Never Whiskey, Brandy, Mochi, Boba, Franklin, or<br />
other names that you would find leading the Cute Names to<br />
Call Your Cat list.<br />
He remembers the stray cats lining the streets back<br />
home, faces planted on moldy pavement; they seemed<br />
closer to the city than he ever was, than he ever could be.<br />
Taw:<br />
It’s raining heavier today.<br />
Arachnid in the corner, strange eight-legged fellow.<br />
Legs in excess: he hates it. Tests its durability with a<br />
chopstick—found wanting. Appendages curl fast; it didn’t<br />
have the chance to mourn itself. He couldn’t do it justice<br />
anyways.<br />
Mom hears the ruckus and rushes up. On dropped<br />
knees and folded hands, digit origami.<br />
“Auw mee taw faw… auw mee taw faw… auw<br />
mee taw faw.” She prays for peace from Buddha. He’s never<br />
heard her use that phrase back home.<br />
Everything is a karmic apology.<br />
She hands him another pendant. The current one<br />
is rusty from oxidation and sweat, carrying his burdens.<br />
For (more) protection, for (more) luck, for (more) good<br />
health; in her eyes, he will never have enough. This new<br />
burden is silver, twisting patterns, serpentine; it bites into<br />
him.
His soul: another gram.<br />
“Buddha will give you more strength now.” Her<br />
words are pleading.<br />
Palms towards the sky. Knees to the floor: perfect<br />
equilibrium. Giving and taking in a single form.<br />
The shield granted is another shackle, another weight;<br />
humbling, really. They say Buddha has many faces;<br />
Mom says they’re all for his safety and wellbeing, just<br />
like her many faces.<br />
Wind whispering with the window. Branches<br />
mourn their lost flowers, sad soiree in January. Swaying<br />
creates negative space, enough to fill voids.<br />
Faw:<br />
“Just something simple mom.”<br />
Dinner was not simple. Plates line a plastic-wrapped<br />
table set for three; she’ll be eating the same<br />
flavor for the next couple days. The flight leaves tomorrow<br />
morning. She knew he couldn’t stomach much beforehand.<br />
She knew he would feel too heavy. She knew.<br />
Whenever the plane leaves tarmac, his stomach, always<br />
out of tune, plays leapfrog with his lungs. There’s<br />
always children entertainment-hunting in the seat-pocket.<br />
His mind returns to the food, daunting, taunting—each<br />
bite a promise, a covenant, a debt: payment<br />
has had many forms.<br />
“Have you packed yet?” She asks tentatively.<br />
Clicking chopsticks, in his mind, are an acceptable<br />
response to anything; however, he relented.<br />
“Yeah.”<br />
“I made the fish just the way you like it.” She<br />
apologizes with food.<br />
“I can see that.”<br />
“Eat. You’ve lost weight.”<br />
Incorrect. Since he arrived, his steps have felt<br />
slower, his legs have become heavier, he’s gained too<br />
much.<br />
She continues piling food into his bowl. Stomach<br />
and heart: inverse proportions. One fills. One<br />
drains. He thinks it’s an atonement for growing up,<br />
growing away. The apple rolls farther and farther from<br />
the tree; its luscious red coat caked in dirt, attractive to<br />
worms, but it eats away at itself from the inside first.<br />
Self-destruction is an ephemeral blessing.<br />
He sighs and digs into the bowl, deeper… deeper.<br />
His chopsticks groan, thinking about his stomach<br />
tomorrow morning before the flight. He’ll be gripping<br />
the side of a toilet bowl, tossing out his mother’s heart,<br />
feeling four grams lighter.<br />
Outside, light breeze envelops drizzling droplets,<br />
waltzing.<br />
BY JENNY EUN<br />
BIRDS BY MARTINE RANCARANI<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
29
as a child<br />
Embarrassme<br />
BY CYNTHIA CHEN<br />
have you ever wanted to walk<br />
on the ceiling upright or<br />
crawl on all fours<br />
it doesn’t matter because you just wanted to<br />
be up there among the<br />
lights and grooves along the edges<br />
feel the popcorn texture on your bare feet<br />
bare knees<br />
and you had no trouble baring yourself to the world<br />
but naked dreams are mere naked dreams and i’m<br />
too scared to actually show any parts of myself<br />
metaphorical or not<br />
i’m just a little too long now to fit my bed<br />
my feet dangle and so does my heart<br />
my back hurts often and my posture is nearly unfixable<br />
but i still find myself crouching, making<br />
myself small to fit into the impossibly miniscule<br />
closet underneath the stairs, a safe haven<br />
maybe i can be even smaller<br />
maybe i can still fit<br />
maybe i never have to move out.<br />
BY CHRIST KE<strong>IV</strong>OM<br />
I<br />
You smile and they come into effect:<br />
We call these eyes. They capture what<br />
We call moments, which defy the perpetuity of time—<br />
Where inconsequent is the effect of death.<br />
We call these fingertips. They feel what the eyes<br />
Cannot touch and excite the nerves like musical<br />
Strings. Where there is silence—<br />
They make the heart strum a new hymn.<br />
II<br />
You smile and I’m put on the spot;<br />
Embarrassed by the crowd, as if you’ve<br />
Found my poems and read each one of them<br />
Aloud. Think of Prufrock, shy and daunted<br />
To talk with women (should the women<br />
Reject his advance) “And should I then presume?<br />
And how should I begin?” with this feeling,<br />
Ubiquitous as the sky, that joins me from here<br />
To wherever you are. As I turn my face to<br />
Your turning face. You smile. I look away.<br />
*The poem borrows lines from T.S. Elliot’s<br />
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.<br />
CLARINE<br />
Two rabbits by Irina Novikova<br />
BY SARAH LAM<br />
30<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
nt<br />
T<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
31
Breathless How We Miss<br />
BY LYNN WHITE<br />
In this new society<br />
of masks and miasmas<br />
we are being suffocated<br />
with pillows of power<br />
and prejudice,<br />
hardly hidden,<br />
in the institutions<br />
we were told would protect<br />
us all.<br />
Some of us<br />
believed it.<br />
But the old masks are off now,<br />
forced off the face by lies.<br />
All they hid is exposed.<br />
We know it now.<br />
So in these new times<br />
we will put on our masks<br />
carefully<br />
to protect<br />
ourselves.<br />
We know now<br />
that we are all<br />
George Floyd<br />
potentially<br />
later or sooner.<br />
And we know<br />
we are all his killers<br />
potentially<br />
later or sooner<br />
unless we look behind the masks.<br />
Understanding<br />
BY NATASHA BREDLE<br />
love, i heard<br />
you were trying to fit the world<br />
through a funnel, again. funny<br />
how the spout<br />
grows narrower and narrower<br />
the more you learn. i promise,<br />
it gets easier<br />
once you accept that the trees<br />
are statutory and do not want to speak,<br />
but neither<br />
are they complicit in destruction. no,<br />
they grow and give and give as they<br />
were meant to, as you<br />
will do what you were meant to,<br />
love. be the first to hear the change<br />
in the wind.<br />
be the first to ascend before<br />
cascading to relieve the land like rain.<br />
patience is<br />
a virtue for a reason. come morning<br />
you will identify with the birds<br />
returning<br />
to an empty feeder, the fox reeling<br />
from a forgotten landmine, the slaughtered<br />
tree, lying peacefully<br />
on its deathbed: the earth, a part of its own self<br />
or, itself a part of the earth. unaccustomed, unbeholden<br />
to it,<br />
these creatures can only know, intrinsically,<br />
that the world was never obliged to answer their questions.<br />
32<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
LOST IN TRANSLATION BY SUNNIE QIU<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
33
RICHARD XU<br />
At The Beach<br />
BY KHALIYA RAJAN<br />
The sound of waves<br />
rippling,<br />
and splashing,<br />
is covered by,<br />
the sound of kids playing,<br />
and laughing,<br />
and screaming.<br />
At the beach.<br />
The grains of sand<br />
shifting between my toes,<br />
the feel of the sun’s rays,<br />
burning on my skin,<br />
the gentle sway of a light breeze<br />
giving a moment of coolness,<br />
and relief.<br />
At the beach.<br />
The sight of the beautiful ocean waves,<br />
hitting the sand,<br />
one<br />
after<br />
the other,<br />
combined with the sight of kids running,<br />
couples walking,<br />
and others lying under umbrellas.<br />
At the beach.<br />
The briny,<br />
salty,<br />
crisp smell of the ocean,<br />
wafting,<br />
towards me.<br />
At the beach.<br />
The taste of the ice-cold lemonade,<br />
the fresh fruit,<br />
all the snacks,<br />
that I am<br />
devouring.<br />
At the beach.<br />
34<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
READ NOWREAD NOW<br />
READ NOWREAD NOW<br />
READ NOW<br />
READ NOW<br />
PLUVIA ISSUE III<br />
SUMMER 2022<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
35
@PLUVIALITMAG<br />
SOCIAL<br />
MEDIA<br />
@PLUVIALITMAG<br />
INSTAGRAM + FACEBOOK<br />
36<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
BRIAN YOU<br />
C O N T R I B U T O R S<br />
CHLOE LIN<br />
Chloe Jiatong Lin is a Chinese-Canadian high school student from Lord Byng Secondary School. From scribbles on construction<br />
paper to thought-provoking poems on Google Docs, she has loved writing from the very beginning. When she isn’t<br />
writing poems, you can find her laughing with her parents and two siblings, immersed in a novel, or playing the viola. You can<br />
find more of her work on her Instagram account @cordiallychloe.<br />
CHRIST KE<strong>IV</strong>OM<br />
Christ Keivom (he/him) is currently pursuing his master’s in English Literature at Delhi University. His work has previously<br />
appeared in Novus Literary Arts Journal, Mulberry Literary, Monograph Mag, Farside Review, Spotlong Review, The Chakkar,<br />
and Write now lit to name a few. You can reach out to him on Instagram at @passmethecigarettes.<br />
CYNTHIA CHEN<br />
Cynthia Chen is an incoming freshman at Northeastern University. She enjoys writing about anything and everything, from<br />
shower thoughts to 2 AM ideas, confused feelings and old memories, little bits and pieces of her life. Her poetry has previously<br />
been published by <strong>Pluvia</strong> Literary Magazine.<br />
EDISON CHEN<br />
JENNY EUN<br />
JENNY ZOU<br />
Jenny Zou is a junior at York House School. She enjoys acrylic, oil, and watercolour painting and suffers from existential crises<br />
about her artistic career. Jenny appreciates greek column orders and can be found cooking up bizarre recipes in her spare<br />
time. Jenny also loves cats and hopes to own one after she leaves for college.<br />
JIMENA YENGLE<br />
Jimena Yengle (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist, known for her book Roma Enamorada and her lyrical work. She is the<br />
director of two virtual spaces: Roma Enamorada (aimed at young people) and Magic Maneuvers (aimed at children). Her writing<br />
and visual art works have been published by various international magazines. She directed the play “Life of August” for<br />
the Juvenis Festival in Kingston, and published her second book on May 1, 2022.<br />
JINGJIE CHEN<br />
Jingjie Chen is an interactive media artist currently based in San Francisco. Graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, her works<br />
often explore how human memory, sentiments and consciousness can exist and evolve in the virtual world, through mediums<br />
like AR/VR experiences, narrative games and photography.<br />
JOHN MURO<br />
Twice nominated for the 2021 Pushcart Prize, John is a resident of Connecticut and a lover of all things chocolate. His first<br />
book of poems, In the Lilac Hour, was published in 2020 by Antrim House, and it is available on Amazon. Since then, John’s<br />
poems have been published or are forthcoming in numerous journals and anthologies, including Acumen, Barnstorm, Euphony,<br />
Grey Sparrow, River Heron and Sky Island. His most recent volume of poems, Pastoral Suite, was released in June and it,<br />
too, is available on Amazon. Instagram: @johntmuro.<br />
KHALIYA RAJAN<br />
Khaliya is a conscientious and hardworking girl. She gives every task 100% effort and always tries her best. She is quiet and<br />
shy but when she does speak up she can be very insightful. Khaliya loves to read and write short stories, poems and more. She<br />
has had her work featured in other publications.<br />
LAURA FERRIES<br />
Laura Ferries is a high school English teacher and writer who explores life, love, place, and space in her poetry. She runs a<br />
travel blog at www.lauraferries.com and has self-published two collections of her poems. Laura has a love of languages, and<br />
speaks Spanish and Italian. Laura performs regularly at spoken word events in Liverpool and she hosted her own bilingual<br />
English-Spanish poetry night in October 2021.<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
37
LYNN WHITE<br />
Lynn White lives in North Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has<br />
known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality. She was shortlisted<br />
in the Theatre Cloud ‘War Poetry for Today’ competition and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net and a<br />
Rhysling Award. Find Lynn at: https://lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com and https://www.facebook.com/Lynn-White-Poetry-1603675983213077/.<br />
MARTINE RANCARANI<br />
Martine Rancarani teaches Arts, and she practices every day all its different techniques. She examines, tries, explores, experiments,<br />
and starts over again, in order to express her commitments through stills or animated images. She most often produces<br />
series. She leaves a lot to chance, and observes what happens. As an actress and a spectator of her visual Art, she puts in<br />
perspective the image and the technique used to produce it. Ecology, body language, the image and the position of women in<br />
society, clothing, and nature vs. culture are the major issues she considers through her work.<br />
NATASHA BREDLE<br />
Natasha Bredle is an emerging writer based in Ohio. She likes sunsets and the quiet, and is the caretaker of several exotic pets.<br />
You can find her work in Peach Mag, Full House Lit, and Anti-Heroin Chic, to name a few.<br />
PHOBE CHEN<br />
PRISCILLA RAITZA<br />
Priscilla Raitza is a bookworm, musician, debater and tennis-player. She is 16 years old and lives in Baden-Württemberg,<br />
Germany. Priscilla is intrigued by realistic fiction and hopes to amplify the voices of today’s generation. She loves to travel and<br />
capture moments of beauty. Her favorite school subjects are German, English and Ethics.<br />
RALPH LAM<br />
Ralph Lam is a junior at Phillips Academy Andover from Hong Kong. Ralph enjoys writing about family, culture, and the impact<br />
they have on identity; he likes to read his work in front of his plants, as they make for a quiet and respectful audience. He<br />
also tends to look far too closely into every scene of a movie. Ralph’s work has been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing<br />
Awards and published in various literary journals. When Ralph isn’t sitting at his desk, he is traveling across Hong Kong<br />
to encourage younger generations to pick up a pencil and write; he believes that everyone should have access to a platform to<br />
express their creative agency.<br />
RICHARD XU<br />
SARAH LAM<br />
SUNNIE QIU<br />
TIA LI<br />
Tia Li is an art student at Crofton House School. She enjoys animation and concept design and wishes to enter the field of<br />
animation. She believes animation is an essential visual influence that delivers animators’ messages to all people, all classes,<br />
and nations.<br />
VICKY NGUYEN<br />
Vicky (Vy) Nguyen grew up in Saigon and lives in BC, but often finds herself jet-lagged anywhere in between. She is a rising<br />
senior interested in history, politics, and life sciences. Vicky enjoys chuckling at history memes, unsuccessfully quoting<br />
Frost, not learning the subjunctive mood, and sipping cold matcha latte. Her writings can be found on her blog Rants and<br />
Rambles at talesoftwocountries.blogspot.com, where she overuses the past tense.<br />
VIELA HU<br />
Viela Hu is an artist based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Her works range a variety from ink illustration to large scale installations<br />
while exploring the relationships between herself, the people around her, and the world in which she lives in. Her<br />
website is www.vielahu.com.<br />
ARTISTS FROM REV<strong>IV</strong>E TOMORROW (p.22)<br />
Viela Hu, David Tang, Brian Yoo, YanQing Shen (Eric), Ruby Zhang, Rachel Zhang, Angelina Liu, Richard Xu,<br />
Louis Liu, Amy Park<br />
38<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com
BY RICHARD XU<br />
ABOUT<br />
PLUVIA<br />
A LITERARY<br />
ARTS JOURNAL<br />
<strong>Pluvia</strong> is an international non-profit literary arts journal<br />
that publishes online 3-4 times a year. We accept creative<br />
art forms, whether it be poetry, prose, or visual arts.<br />
We seek to amplify both emerging and established<br />
voices, with a particular emphasis on BIPOC and underrepresented<br />
writers and artists. Inspired by rain’s<br />
beauty and by how often it is overlooked, our mission<br />
is to utilize the creative arts as a path for societal<br />
change and expression of the inner self. We hope<br />
to publish works that are raw and honest; works<br />
that excavate and uncover the beauty in the small.<br />
We are not looking for a particular theme or aesthetic<br />
so we welcome all works, whether they<br />
be lost in the tumultuous waves of existence, or<br />
basking under the emerging sun of a rainstorm.<br />
<br />
www.pluvialitmag.com<br />
39