Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol.4 Issue 2

family, as she will always be.
Family is looking back on a time
when you were younger and realizing
everything has changed.
MY GIRLFRIEND IS MY FAMILY.
Without her, there are so many
versions of myself that would never
exist. Without her, I would still
be afraid. Afraid to show my body.
Afraid to put myself out there.
Afraid to take a risk. Afraid to be
afraid. I thought I knew everything
about myself until she started
making me answer questions I never
thought to ask. She is my home away
from home. She gives me a place to
stay each time she opens her arms.
FAMILY IS LOOKING BACK ON A
TIME WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER
AND REALIZING EVERYTHING
HAS CHANGED. I don’t see my
parents and bother the way I did
when I was younger, because I am
not the same person that I was when
I was younger. Sometimes ignorance
is bliss, but it is still ignorance. It
was always “you’ll understand when
you’re older,” until one day I became
old enough. When I became an adult,
I started to think about how my
parents used to be children. They
messed up, but so do I. None of us
have been on this earth twice. And
sometimes, for some reason, it feels
like they have.
As I got older, my brother and I
stopped fighting and began having
conversations. I stopped telling
on him to our parents and started
telling him things I don’t even tell
them. And no matter how we are or
how we used to be, they have always
wanted nothing but the best for me.
While I continue to grow up, I hope,
now that my parents don’t have to
raise their children anymore, that
they are able to revisit the children
they used to be. I want them to never
forget how it feels to wonder and
dream. To my family, to all the ups
and downs, the good and the bad,
to everyone who has shaped me into
who I am and who I will become, I
thank you.
A LOSS OF INNOCENCE
NNENNA NWANNUNU
Slowly gaining awareness that the calls for her father have now ceased
The blessed blissful ignorance of childhood is ... fleeting — to say the least
Becoming agitated with aging as the dreams cease, you are now aware of the
beast.
The blindfold and earplugs you were graciously given have now disappeared
And the once silent arguments and fights are now feared.
Becoming aware of the horrors you were oblivious to
You wonder “Why does he hold the role that he can’t even do?”
Negation of the experience through statements of at least he was there, at
least he was present
Unaware of the prayers for a different reality that were sent.
To the mother, to the Lord up above, to the one who holds the title father,
Why is gratitude expected despite the laments of the poor daughter?
A CHILD.
What better word to invalidate how she feels
Happiness found within a false reality is how adults maintain their ideals.
Bite your tongue, swallow your pride, allow the lies to become louder
Maybe then, she’ll be able to relive those ignorant dreams they once allowed
her.
65