The Pisces by Melissa Broder I, like many others before me, first came to The Pisces by Melissa Broder because of the promise of sex scenes with a merman. And if you, too, are intrigued by that simple premise, then you won’t be disappointed in this engaging and exciting novel. But the truth is, The […]
It is such that no one knows, all the ticking of seconds, hours passing as if the were three at a time; nine hours, twelve, the daughters if dawn and the orbed deities who exist beyond the veil of time and the cloak of destiny. I, a soul, like any other, has seen the rejuvenation […]
One day, our house grew tall arachnid legs and ran away with us in it. We held onto the nearest furniture for balance and speculated about the house’s driving force, but deep down, all three of us were relieved. We wouldn’t have to make any hard choices then. We wouldn’t have to break all we […]
Firstly, I should say this reading list is for readers who feel like outsiders. A wise person said, “People can make you feel like an outsider when you’re actually on the inside,” so feel free to heed as this reading list is not for to heal any wounds but to get your mind back into […]
They say about this land that the projectiles of the last war unearthed the projectiles of the one before. – Anna Seghers, The Seventh Cross (trans. Margot Bettauer Dembo) But war, of course, consists not only of projectiles but of peripatetics: every legion of soldiers produces another of refugees. And few have been more sensitive […]
She died with a virtual reality headset strapped to her face. Jaw agape, cheeks sunken, polygonal patterns of crystallized sweat stuck to the fabric of her clothes. Her body was splayed out on an undressed mattress. A ceiling fan wobbled above. It was hot. Real hot. Alabama mid-summer-sun-expected-to-implode-this-decade hot. Scattered around the mattress, small plastic […]
“…would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light. But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother’s milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship.” - Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet “The quality of […]
On paper, she was Carmen but for us, she will always be Mameng. Decades ago, the entire family lived with Mameng in the mansion at Balic-Balic in Manila. It had three levels. The base was made of adobe stone, and served as the garage and granary. The two upper levels were made of kamagong wood […]
They were anxious to lock someone up, anyone or anything, it didn´t matter. I don´t know why. Lenin explained that empires export their contradictions because they can and as a way to stabilize themselves inside. The monster, the crippled one, the one on top of the hierarchy, locked up a dog in the bathroom. […]
Jordannah Elizabeth is an established writer, activist, and musician from Baltimore and has been a featured columnist with TERSE. since 2016. EIC M. Perle Tahat talked with her about the future of her column and also got a bonus reading list out of it. Check it out for yourself. M. Perle Tahat: You’re a […]
