First Baby
byThe hospital felt like a tomb just after midnight, your body at home in my womb for the final time. In the bathroom, I…
mother
Afternoon Nap
byMy daughter dreams breasts, lip-synching lunch. I am the large one beside her, a sleepy parenthesis curl for her appetite. Like a sleepwalker descending…
Tears come
byThe tears start at the back of the eye. I suppress all thoughts of death and blink several times. They retreat. I press my…
The labor that bore me
byI have birthed four children. Any mother will tell you that birth is a labor of love and insist that the memory of the…
Little sister hails a cab
byThe first story I remember hearing about my Aunt Ruth was from the childhood she shared with my mother. “She used to take a…
Femininity and The Big-Boned Gal
byEditor’s note: Each Thursday, we feature a throwback piece from Topology’s predecessor, catapult magazine. In this essay, Denise Frame Harlan explores memories of her…
Hidden: Autism and life around the edges
byEditor’s Note: Each Thursday, we feature a throwback piece from Topology’s predecessor, catapult magazine. In this 2013 essay, Deborah Lewis carefully articulates some of…
My boy will know
byEditor’s note: Each Thursday, we feature a throwback piece from Topology’s predecessor, catapult magazine. In this poetic essay, Chris Smit riffs on a theme…