• Confessions of a Snail Murderer

    Kimberley Chia Issue 1: RISE, July 2023 In our haste to catch the bus I step on a snail, its crevice collapsing in on itself. A nomad murdered by a house it thought to be home. You laugh sadly and say this must be a metaphor, for us. The statement hangs heavy with ache. In…

  • Where do you go when your house is on fire?

    Christian Yeo Issue 1: RISE, July 2023 i. Ma says the shoe is always on the wrong foot with me. I have been trying to unravel this for a long time. Isn’t it the other foot? I say. Somewhere outside, a crow is shot from the sky. I dislike the violence of aphorisms— dislike their…

  • Something from Nothing

    Daryl Lim Wei Jie Issue 1: RISE, July 2023 A constant desire to be sure that an Alpha is present Youth smiles without any reason An unending supply of urban warriors crafted for the experienced wearer You are what you love, not who loves you Everyday fashion; forward style; style inspiration; horrible scam company A…

  • Rise & Fall of the Scourge of Malice

    Meihan Boey Issue 1: RISE, July 2023 I was born in 1595, because the Earl of Cumberland did not want to pay Queen Elizabeth I for one of her ships. It was Queen Elizabeth who named me, when George Clifford (that is my owner, the Earl of Cumberland), like the overbearing, arse-licking, obnoxious fop he…

  • SADNESS PERSONIFIED

    JY Tan Issue 1: RISE, July 2023 She waters the purple wolfsbane and points at it and calls it a nightmare. You wake in the middle of the night to see her drinking black bile from your cup. You return home to see her on the home-phone and feel nothing but static. And you hear…

  • Transcending the Tempest

    Jonathan Avinash Victor Issue 1: RISE, July 2023 The painting depicts a tumultuous sea, with blue waves crashing and swirling, representing the challenges and difficulties that we all face in life. Despite the turmoil around them, the two figures in the painting remain calm and serene, with their eyes closed in peaceful contemplation. They seem…