ISSUE NO. 4: LOVE LETTERS

March 2021

This issue of Pearl Press features work from:

Isabelle Baldwin
Nick Goring
Linda Moses
Savannah Hardman
Cobi Timmermans
Molly Peters
Jamie Riva
Raisa Mikhaylova
Alexandra Brodsky
Marcy Palmer
Allison DeBritz
Jacob Grumulaitis
Fernanda Kock
Kristen LaSalvia
Bobby Redmond
Pengkuei Ben Huang
Ketevan Gvinepadze
Liliana Guzmán

Cover image: Marcy Palmer

Curated by: Delilah Twersky

Download the PDF below.

quem ama tá vivo: Ayá Cavalcanti

Matthew, 2019: Isabelle Baldwin

Untitled: Nick Goring

hope you know i'm in love with you too Series: Savannah Hardman

Tulips: Linda Moses

hope you know i'm in love with you too Series: Savannah Hardman

LIGHT OF MY LIFE

As cool darkness falls, I'll walk down dirt roads until I reach clear skies.

I'll reach up to sleeping Heaven and pluck the glittering specks of light.

Like glowing fireflies, I'll catch them in a jar, leave it on your doorstep

late at night.

When morning breaks and the sun awakes, I'll scoop up the sky with a ladle,

pour it in a glass bottle, leave it on your kitchen table.

It looks like orange juice, only sweeter,

only brighter.

Yet, these gifts I bear cannot compare to the one that shines before me. You,

with your rays of golden hair. The glow of your eyes; the blue of the moon.

The gleam of your smile; the light of my life. My labour of love seems done in vain;

to find a gift worthy of you.

Here I stand, two gifts in hand.

The stars in one; the other, the sun.

Cobi Timmermans

Untitled Series: Savannah Hardman

Purgatory: Molly Peters

Untitled: Nick Goring

My Father and the Mountain Series: Jamie Riva

My Father and the Mountain Series: Jamie Riva

A Letter From My Mom Series: Raisa Mikhaylova

As a child I once asked Mom, “When people meet in heaven, how do they recognize their loved ones? After all, a person in heaven cannot know how the one that died after her would change with age. How can they find each other?” "These are souls that meet in heaven”, my mom said, “And souls never age”.

Home in The Natural World Series: Alexandra Brodsky

Ava Floating, Lake Series, 2020: Alexandra Brodsky

Raisa HR_RM_A_LETTER_FROM_MY_MOM_001.jpg

A Letter From My Mom Series: Raisa Mikhaylova

We used to write letters to each other. We left memos saying “gone to that place, will be back at that time” even when went away for half an hour. And if sent from far away, letters would take up several pages. They contained thorough descriptions of all events, films watched and books read. This letter Mom sent me when I was at a summer camp in Krasnodar region.

A Letter From My Mom Series: Raisa Mikhaylova

Once Was: Marcy Palmer

Elegant Petals: Marcy Palmer

Illusions We Desire Series: Allison DeBritz

gravity locked her in rotation Series: Allison DeBritz

Artur Series: Fernanda Kock

Letter to God: Jacob Grumulaitis

ARTUR Series: Fernanda Kock

Ashes on the Cabin Mantle: Molly Peters

Lessons: Kristen LaSalvia

Evening: Bobby Redmond

Court: Bobby Redmond

Soul Calling Series: Pengkuei Ben Huang

TRANSLATION:

I was born in Rikuzentakata.

I often borrowed my sister-in-law's bike to get around the town and the pine field nearby when I returned to my beloved hometown prior to the disaster.

But the tsunami took my sister-in-law's life and the house was flooded. She was a hard working and dependable woman. When I decided to move to Tokyo she often told me to come and visit again. These words still ring in my heart...

Since then, my mother took up the task of taking care of her grandson without hesitation. As for my brother, he worked his heart out without talking too much about his wife's passing. For me, once a year homecoming has turned into a three times a year ordeal.

Last year, while my mother was being transferred from four hospitals said "the city has changed after the disaster, so have people..." Those were her last words before she passed away. My brother provided care to our ailing mother at the hospitals. He tirelessly looked after our mother, from her food to her hygiene, while diverting his time between home and the hospital.

I can't thank my brother enough...