Truth be told, I’ve been possessed by a ghost ever since I was born, passed down by my parents through a generational curse. The spirit, invisible to others, revels in my torment. Try as I might, this phantom of mine refuses to pass into the afterlife.
Teaching Myself to be a Black Woman
In Ethiopia, I was just a woman, but in Canada, I am a Black woman.
Sage
“I want to go with you to your next appointment,” Lisabetta said. What she meant was, “I never want us to be apart again.”
Jonsey Stood Alone
Jonsey’s heart was beating furiously. No time to be scared, she thought to herself. For this, she had to be angry. Angry at the ground people for shattering all the peace and making her scared. Angry at the ground people for making her hide in a corner.
Motherhood
Chloe had to go home soon but she wasn’t ready to face her parents. She’d failed them by her very biology. It wasn’t fair. She was their only child. She was expected to give them grandchildren, wasn’t she? What was her purpose if she couldn’t?
Everything is Just Fine
You are my companion, my purpose in life, the reason I wake up. Everything is just fine.
Twenty-Four-Hour Video
The pile of tapes in the trash can had started to melt, the black plastic bubbling and warping, exposing the spools of film underneath.
Out
The people that I care the most about in the world now know me, the real me, without any walls to hide behind or masks to cover my true face. I’m free.
Blind Date
“You know, there’s a word for taking something that isn’t yours. It’s called stealing.”
I’m not a bad student!
There is some sort of stigma with learning disabilities, but often you can’t tell when someone has one.
The Butterflies
“You must learn to fix these things, okay?” The question seemed odd to pose to a child, but she nodded, despite not quite knowing what she was agreeing to. Her mother would smile sadly, then go right back to cleaning.
Realistic Reincarnation
Death lies his sickle aside, squatting down next to the small soul. His hand caresses the skin on its side. It closes its eyes and feels his words.
Silences You'll Encounter
It comes when no words are spoken, when you are alone.
Tonight
Tonight, I iron my mother’s clothes. The television hums. A woman with Hollywood hair wailing about her inattentive blue collar husband is my companion for the night.
Dinnertime
A girl and her brother are enraptured by insects. From across the garden, a mother’s look of endearment is left unseen.
Artist Spotlight: Ebru Kur
The featured artist for this edition of HLR Spotlight is Ebru Kur, a student in the Visual & Digital Arts program, which is part of Humber’s Faculty of Media & Creative Arts.
Union
She was profoundly comforted by the knowledge that Joseph was inside her. Over the course of each day, her intestines would absorb as much of him as they could. Then he would be in her blood.
My Son Jake: Reflections on Giving Birth to a Medically Fragile Baby
I experienced early a challenge that comes ultimately to every parent: the release of control that our children demand of us as they grow. There is, in fact, no grand plan. We give them life, but we raise them in conditions not entirely of our own making.
Mr. Big
Phil had a personality as big as the outdoors, whereas I could barely fill a small closet, but I was still cute—as my mother kept reassuring me.
The Dead of Night
Violet blinked, once, then twice. She opened her eyes to find a meadow stretching into the horizon and her back leaning against something hard. With a gasp, she glanced down only to find herself in the body she would inhabit every night.