ISSUE NO. 5: ON CROWDS

May 2021

This issue of Pearl Press features work from:

Lo K. Clayton
Devon Riley
Emmy Hicks-Jablons
Beverly Frydman
Johan Orellana
Chris Rojas
Molly Peters
John Kinney
Jinwoo Hwon Lee 이훤
Jennifer Klockner
Lawrence Agyei
Blythe Cross

John O’Toole
Madison Wilds Burger
Jacob Grumulaitis

Cover image: Lawrence Agyei

Curated by: Delilah Twersky

Download the PDF below.

Untitled: Lo K. Clayton

Picnic: Devon Riley

Untitled Series: Savannah Hardman

Of The Planet; In Which They Were Torn: Emmy Hicks-Jablons

A CROWD OF PARAKEETS IS CALLED PANDEMONIUM

Brash green marauders
dressed up party goers
feathery treetop clique,

linger like teenagers
trolling each other
not ready to go home.

Unloved by many
because of the shitting
there’s also the thieving.

I love their F-U-ing
they don’t care who sees them,
won’t hide their light

unlike rats in the bushes
dragging in rubbish
from leftover swarms

of picknickers crammed
onto moth eaten blankets
starving for company

the lime green invaders
without proper manners
are never without.

Beverly Frydman

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

Lady Walking Dog, Miami: Johan Orellana

HAUNTED

For John (1997-2020)

Upon returning to the city, I see him

driving an ambulance on the BQE,
waiting for the light to change at Roosevelt Avenue,

eating alone in a Starbucks,

content in the simplest way.

The length of his body
on the shore banks of Astoria...

The basement I inhabit is crammed with stacks of books
I pretend to have finished reading.
“One day I’ll sit down and read War & Peace,”
said No One with a Life, ever.
After ten days of “One Hundred Years of Solitude”
I left home for a night of bad attitudes and safe fun,
but don’t ask me about “Swann’s Way” because i can only remember

...the length of their bodies
in bags outside Elmhurst Hospital.

I opened a door / a memory / a dream:

An empty Astoria Park / roaring police lights
Citizens covered / an ambulance racing down 19th street

You become a cloud of smoke / report of a shot fired

...

Measure the pain of the people you left;

Hearts heavy with guilt, they knew why you fled

Alone with a gun, to the East River shore.

The length of their bodies,
you added one more.

Chris Rojas

Traces, Encinitas, CA: Molly Peters

Ginza: John Kinney

Ueno Park: John Kinney

3_IntrudedAndUnapologetic_JinwooHwonLee_

Intruded and Unapologetic: Jinwoo Hwon Lee 이훤

Citizens III: Jinwoo Hwon Lee 이훤

Untitled: Lo K. Clayton

TIMES FROM THE PAST THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE SMUSHED TOGETHER AND WE HAD NO IDEA HOW GOOD WE HAD IT

Big John’s wedding. This was my first wedding as an “older kid”, I think I was 12ish. It was filled with so much joy and love and laughter. We danced the night away and the happy couple looked beautiful.
Nicky’s wedding. It was hot and sticky in the south but it didn’t bother anybody because the day was so beautiful. We all sat in a painting-like entry hall room as I watched my brother marry the love of his life. I have a picture from that night of me hugging Nicky. We aren’t that affectionate necessarily, I love that photo.
Halloween party on Myrtle. Camille came back from that party and told Emily, “that party was kinda gross, everyone was just making out with each other.” It’s true. That’s where I met Delilah.
Concert with Sara. We went to this festival thing with The Front Bottoms, Twenty One Pilots, and Catfish and the Bottlemen. It was super hot, and we both got a little crispy. We were on the lawn with hundreds of other people piled up on top of each other. Bottled Water was $4.50.
Bob Smith’s Soccer camp, early 2000s. We used to have camp behind the old ice skating rink in Mercer County Park. We’d run around like maniacs and then go inside the rink for lunch where we’d have pizza and juice.

4th of July at Carl’s nephew’s. We drove up a ways and I don’t like the car much but it was worth it. Delilah looked beautiful. The food was my favorite kind. The kids all climbed up on top of me in the pool as we played. The next day my muscles were sore.
That one time me and Emily threw a party. I filled a huge clear plastic bag with ice from the gym where I worked and dragged it over to her basement. We filled the sink with ice and bud light. We had flowers and people painted each other’s faces.
Broadway
Farm parties
Nicky’s navy graduation. That was so many people. It was like a sea of white, it was so hard to spot him. I was still wearing dresses at that point. I was (am) so proud of him.