winter.
welcome to our winter zine! winter for some means dark days
& cozying up inside while for others it’s filled with renewal & exploration. I like the openness of these seasonal zines - it gets to serve as a place for whatever people want.
i think the winter is a great time to regroup & assess where you’re at - both creatively & every other aspect of your life. if you’re not
feeling up to getting out & making shit, use your hibernation time to scheme. map out how you want to spend your time & projects
you’d like to pursue. don’t ever feel like you’re wasting time or
not doing something if you’re not actually bringing an idea to life - that’s only one piece of your puzzle.
luna’s audience is one talented bunch & i’m so thankful that so many of you let this be a space for us to share your work. going
through the submissions was truly a treat and i hope you enjoy this body of work as much as i do.
xox,
sophie
Cover & Background Photo By Giada Caprani
Photographer: Tess Elizabeth / Los Angeles Model: Elliot Evans / Omaha Stylist: Aya Zacharias / Omaha
Tess Elizabeth / Los Angeles
A Love Letter to My Bed Dear bed, How you ease my tiresome head In the most delightful spread. You’re sewn with comfort in each thread And are more essential than the finest bread. When I lay onto you, the soreness has fled You energize me for whatever lies ahead. A day without you, I would dread But a life without you, I’d be seeing red. I’ll rest with you dearest, oh, til I’m dead Now is our time, we ought to wed.
- Melisa Rose Miller / Long Beach
Le Quyen Nguyen / Berlin
A Cafe in December Her fingers looked like barren tree branches, As they caved around the outside of her cup Of coffee that’s too hot to drink.
Her delicate hands moved as a shivering breeze, Beneath her skin was blood filled with ice
That wasn’t cold enough to break her bone. Her teeth looked like jagged rocks,
As they clamored tensely with each bite of bread That was as stale and bitter as the snow.
Her eyes paced like dancing winter lights, As they jumped from object to object In a cafe full of emptiness.
- Melisa Rose Miller / Long Beach
Athena Merry / Indianapolis
Alex Mehiel / New York City
Anna Shoul by Anouk Pannen / Enschede, The Netherlands
Nia Rose by Anouk Pannen
Bob Deng / Kingston, Jamaica
BROKEN HOME Unfinished, weathered by the elements, and you’re left here alone. Dreams crumbled like the rubble beneath my step. Was it the money you lacked? Was it the follow-through that failed? You stood on the mountaintop. The world was yours to conquer, yet here you are. I’ll help you pick up the pieces, it’s not too late to build the life you want
Zachary Francois / Atlanta
Zachary Francois / Atlanta
He Took Me To a Place He took me to a place,
Where the trees bore no leaves,
But the ground was covered in swarms. He took me to a place,
Where the cool air pierces your skin,
But the layers of clothes releases sweat from pores. He took me to a place,
Where even the city had few lights,
But the winter night shown stars of many. He took me to the place he calls home, The place itself isn’t my home,
But anywhere with him is home for me.
Melissa Rose Miller / Long Beach
Giada Caprani / Dublin
Saline Solutions Open oceans of opulence & seas beyond dreams,
Churning harmonious tides & providing pure ecstasy. A hollowed out chorus of Aquatic angels speak To Cancer & Pisces
Collective thoughts that
Drive my human delicacy. There’s teardrops on my Fingertips & Seaweed
Where I sleep…
There’s infinite need within My kingdom of salinity To swim against deeds That shadow the deep,
Staying afloat amongst Anguished fears of Lover’s lies &
Anchored minds…
I’m adrift in a place without a Time or true space & I’ve never felt more Serene.
- Graziella Micklovic / New York City
Chipsblue / Kolkata, India
This winter I realised that I barely remember anything from the winters I’ve lived before, there is a winter where my
cousin gets so sick that her lower body stops working for
three days and there’s another where we are made to return home from school on the first day back from vacation. But
then, all these cold days mix into terrible nights till all I can recall is my body floating, expanding, shrinking, bursting,
regretting things I didn’t do in the days, months, years that passed before this season, and longing for the things that I plan on doing after this season passes.
Every night before falling asleep I wish this is a winter I
remember, I wish those around me remember it too, I hope they remember it for the hundreds of young people who have been on the streets for the last month, I hope they
remember the agony, the wounds, the deaths. This winter
feels like it will seep into summer, I hope I’m wide awake
to remember, I hope I am tethered to the ground to see this end.
- Shaivy, India
Shayla Angeline Cunico / Phoenix
Sweet Suezy / Cowtown
Nicole Melich / Miami
May Chi / Birmingham
Deandre Blair-Washington / Toronto
How to Enjoy Winter Again in Three Easy Steps
Winter for me brings a deep depression. My trauma was at its worst in the winter.
I think winter naturally aligns itself with shitty things. It’s a death and burial of the things that make Earth worth living on. Flowers, trees, and the sun. Even neurotypical people experience the beating this lack of vitamin D gives us all. But! There’s something special winter has that no other season does if you want to go looking for it. You in?
1.
Notice the snow
First of all, I hate snow. Let’s set that record straight. Snow plays an important role in how
to enjoy winter again. Walk outside at night when it snows. It’s starts to be nighttime at like
4pm, so this shouldn’t be hard, but I mean like Dead Of Night nighttime. There’s a light that
happens. The earth glows and bounces between the sky and the snow like you’ve never seen it before.
2.
Start walking
Yes, this is a stupid idea. You’re outside in the middle of the night. You’re already cold. Your
neighborhood might not be the safest. Just walk. Anywhere. The end of your driveway, across the street, whatever. Just go beyond your regular scenery. Look around, absorb the light.
3.
Go tf back inside
You know how people say they exercise because of how they feel afterwards but
the actual process sucks a lot? This is the same here. You’ve walked around a bit, done some
mindfulness exercises, listened to a moody album by like Joy Division or some shit, and now
you feel it. The numbness in your hands, nose, feet, and knees. This is the time to turn around. Crawl back into your bed. Make some tea. Feel the heat sting it’s way back into your body.
The point of this exercise is also the same as this meditation for sleep: You notice
every muscle in your body from head to toe and clench one at a time and release. As you work your way through your body, you become more and more relaxed and present in your body.
This is the extreme version. You become aware of your body slowly as it numbs out and reanimates. Blood slows, and flows again. Take this time to really notice your body and its needs
and take care of yourself. Remind yourself that this season is the most important for self care.
You are not alone in feeling this cold. Warm yourself up. - Grace Sullivan / Cedar City
Simone Joiner / Vancouver
Gabrielle Gowans / New York City
Logan Regnier / Los Angeles
Krost / Anahiem
Tillman James / Savannah
solstice uncertainty, this cloak i can feel it in my toes like sand we slip and slide lost in each other and lost in ourselves the blue hues seep past fingers choking on indulgence– or simply the fear to indulge? a shield to hide behind each stitch and seam to skin and bone they mesh together the refractions of light on mirror hold us together but words have a strange way of freezing reflections of taking such red-hot pain and turning it into water spilling over calloused fingertips it’s okay, it’s okay– you say some burning pit deep in my stomach begs to argue but i have already melted the crystal-clear words just drip from your mouth splitting mirrors and seams with ease making any trace of hate trickle away, down the drain there’s something i can’t quite touch something i can’t quite understand is it fear? or acceptance? i think i have begun to believe as your snow falls around me there’s a relief of realizing that even the mighty sun must rest her eyes each solstice
- Kari Trail / Menlo Park
In the winter cave You have me shackled. Hibernating poems inside the dead leaves of Yerba Mate. Your fireplace Tell me, is it warm in there? I imagine it rains wildfires all night in your sultry bed. Wooden spiders rotting over an orange string of light. The birth of a galaxy in the collision of plastic and metal. Venom in the root of the planks shooting up-wards in your mind. Eight molded finger-legs descend an octave in the frozen strings. - IvĂĄn SalĂ / Panorama City
Tillman James / Savannah
Marcus Bryant / Toronto
Michael DeCristo / New York City
Miguel Josue Martinez / Houston
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