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writing is like flowers.
You start with something pretty and attention-grabbing at the top. Something that makes people stop and look. But you can’t only have flower heads. You have to go down the stem, down to the root. That’s where the nutrients—the learning, the discovery, the shared reality is. That’s what grounds an idea and connects it to…
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how to learn a language
When I moved to Peru, I had some basic Spanish—a couple years in high school, some streaks on Duolingo. I hoped that might be useful, but I understood nothing. Now, more than two years later, I’ve improved somewhat. There are days when I feel bilingual. Other days I’ve still just arrived. It’s not linear. It’s maddening and hard. But it’s…
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what is garbage for?
When I was in college I used to walk around the campus’s lakes whenever the weather was nice. One night, spring of sophomore year, the sun was setting radiantly through the trees, pouring gold into its lake-mirror. It was so majestic it made my heart hurt. I felt helpless, like its beauty was too much,…
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in pursuit of a piano
Adults are always telling kids they can be anything they want. But is that true? On paper, maybe, in places with lots of upward mobility. But on an existential level? Aren’t we inexorably drawn to certain things, by virtue of what we’re actually good at and interested in? I remember one day during my first…
Kimberly Bunker, MFA 