Beauty
by Jenna Briedis
My heart is elsewhere.
In pieces, waiting.
My soul is in a chest cave,
threaded by a song,
a promise of belly laughter,
and anonymous beer kisses.
Where it belongs.
When my heart sings,
the thread song tugs,
and pulls me to my happy.
I don’t ask why,
that kills the magic.
On the way I touch the sky,
I try to press my impression there,
a new star for the night.
But when I arrive I realize,
effort is half the battle.
A smile fills the void.
—
Jenna Briedis is a poet, playwright, and current student at New York University. In the past year, her work has been read and seen at venues such as the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House and the Frederick Lowe Theatre. She recently moved to Bushwick, and has loved every minute of it.
Josue Ledesma is a recent graduate from NYU Gallatin. While his background is in creative writing/screenwriting, he has focused most of his efforts on a burgeoning illustration career. You can keep up with him on his blog, follow him @JL_Illustration, or support him through society6.com/JosueLedesma.
Sunday Read is a weekly literary feature curated and edited by Wesley Salazar. We are accepting submissions of short stories, poetry, essays, script excerpts, comics, etc. (max: 1000 words) on a rolling basis. We are also looking for artists who would like to illustrate for Sunday Read. Please send submissions to wesleyATbushwickdaily.com.