BIRDLESSLY MAG

Editor’s Letter: July 2017 | Anxiety, Depression & Candor

Dearest, I have a routine when I am dealing with a depressed spell. When I get those familiar waves of nausea and anxiousness and dread, I climb into bed and burrito my body in soft quilt and I listen to three things: The 90’s Cinderella album featuring Brandy and Whitney Houston, specifically Impossible, Sweetest Sounds and Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful. My writing playlist…

It was almost just like home, but also not at all. The houses all had the same latte color, like a long thread of identical sandcastles shining in the sun. And I always found the right door without looking at the shiny house number sign. This was a year ago, but if I came back to that exact place today, I would still be able to make it to that door without checking the sign. I was a bit of a…

Flowers don’t talk so here I am, pretending to be a flower, bright and yellow like a dandelion. Here I am, lonely, trying to speak, but how? I ask my self, I don’t know any deep words, I’m just hollow, hollow like my language skills. I’m here in this desert, this desert full of people, I don’t know who I am in this land, I really don’t know, I don’t know what it feels to talk. I’m just  in my…

My love, I saw you in a dream once. I thought I was dying. Our hearts collided and your brown eyes lit the world on fire. In an instant, I saw everything I ever wanted. All that I dreamed to inhabit. Oh, how I wanted to be nothing more than the concrete to your chaos. Even as your skin dripped of culture and warmth, I found myself curling into budding sentiment. Your perfume filled the air.…

'Oh Boy: Crush Storytimes ft. Hugh Grant' by Erin Louise

Let’s briefly talk about boys and Hugh Grant. I am very private. I’m not in the habit of ever discussing my feelings, sexuality, love nor relationships, but, as of late, I’ve felt the need to self-reflect due to some recent developments heart-wise. So, here is a mildly selfish collection of anonymous little storytimes, dedicated to anyone attracted to boys who can relate to how…

Is this what it means to be woman? Heels hit the pavement in angst and you dare slap her femininity with rabid vulgarity. A simple scream sends bitter spikes down her spine and she cannot shake this empty feeling. It is as if she has been drained from her core. Color continues to pour from her pores and suddenly, she is without pigment. Her body, now pale and frail, she is a doll to be tossed…

The Voiceless Tangerine, short film. Flowers don’t talk so here I am sharing with you a poem that is a short film too!

The Pieces of Me

Over the past year I have poured every last thought into a journal. This was my way of coping and although most entries are chaotic and illegible, they collectively speak to the true nature of mental health. There simply is no cohesive melody. Anxiety does not look pretty. Sadness is often sporadic. And mental illness does not abide by any rules. As cliche as it sounds, the only guarantee to life…

The Power of Mother Tongues

I have always loved learning new languages. I think languages and cultures are very connected which means when you learn a new language, a lot of doors open up to you. A lot of things start to make sense; like the way people who speak that language as their first language talk to each other, the way they use sarcasm, the way their politicians speak and why some of them sound more powerful than…

What is beautiful? Alexis discusses the present state of beauty, covering colourism and racism for our first Open Mic essay.

                The Doll Test began in the 1940s, psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark designed and conducted a series of experiments known colloquially as “the doll tests” to study the psychological effects of segregation on African-American children. Yet, a new viral video that has shaken the nation entitled the“Doll Test” puts on display the blunt racism that People of Color face from a young…

Alex explores unexpected inspiration in 'The Beginning'.

The lift dinged and ’11’ illuminated on the panel beside the metal doors. I stepped inside, feeling quite claustrophobic. Recently I’ve been feeling quite confined in many aspects of my life, confined to my desk, confined to my own thoughts and now confined in this tiny lift. I haven’t managed to put a decent word to paper, imagine the irony that my ‘Chasing Red’ series is currently a best…

Haunting and melancholic, this is Hanna's 'Smoke Flowers'.

A single candle burned in the room. It was before sunrise and I woke up to the sound of the piano steadily pacing back and forth. Like a stranger lurking, I watched. She was singing in a fizzy whisper and had her eyes closed the entire time as if she was talking to herself in her sleep. Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies beyond the yellow brick road. In the glare of the burning candle, she…

How many can you recognise? bleuezia explores brand influence in our daily lives with her latest piece.

The colours of our everyday life are everywhere around us. Most brands associate themselves to certain colours. You may or may not pay attention to them but they are there, surrounding you. Do you recognise them?

Colours From My Mind Part 2, the last part to a personal collage series by Laura Tangerina.

Colours from my mind is a collage series, where I share bits of my mind, all combined together are the big puzzle that is Laura Tangerina. This is the last part of the series. Minimalism One year ago I decided to get rid of most of my possessions and became minimalist, it was a cathartic experience for me, it helped me to improve my mental health. Sometimes my mind is like this collage, sometimes…

Raven, a curious mermaid is entranced by a beautiful human girl in 'Bird of the Sea' by Seren Sensei.

Blues, beiges, greens- the beach was filled with colors. Adults cutting through the powerful surf as they swam laps, children laughing and playing, building sandcastles and throwing themselves upon the crashing waves, even teenagers who walked hand in hand along the shoreline and kissed in hidden sand dunes. All of them oblivious to the fact that they were being watched by a girl of no more than…