Hot People Have a Spring Awakening 🌸
it’s always the unbalance that keeps me waiting
Hello, poetry saplings!! The sun is shining, the nonbiological wings are flapping and the birds are giving us…. side eye?? BUT WELCOME. To our first-ever Poetry Trapper Keeper issue: 🌸 HOT PEOPLE HAVE A SPRING AWAKENING 🌸
This is the first in a series of four new monthly installments where Kelly & Larissa will feature a collection of pieces from our favorite artists, poets, and musicians that submitted to our open call. We’re frothing with newfound spring excitement to share their work with you!
Down below you will also find a downloadable & printable zine with all these blossoming springtime works!
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🐞 Let’s start with The Bugs by Ilan Peimer; a lovely piece of music to get us in the spring awakening mood:
About Ilan: Ilan is the lead singer/songwriter for indie/alt rock band Red Monkey Black King, performing loud introspective indie soundscapes, with meditative musings on interpersonal relationships and mental health in the 21st century. You can find them online @i_la_n and @redmonkeyblackking And on Spotify here ⤵️
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Untitled by Leo
It’s always the unbalance That keeps me waiting. For the old desire on the new pillow To speak. Any words will do. Words that are not in me. Frogs that are not in the pond. I don’t want to pace myself; It sounds like to install a pair of Nonbiological wings That I can buy at Albert Heijn. It took a week for the storm to faint. My back head received it Like a clinic on a night shift. No doctors. Just a vending machine. Your vitals are normal. Now wait. A nonbiological angel That was not worth saving. A nonbiological frog. I poured the sugar into the pond When the ambulance fell asleep. Nonbiological ashes The unbalanced desire had turned me. Silenced sweet. The first ray On the emergency driveway.
About Leo: Boy with hyperchondria. Just picked up the old habit of writing poems lately. Sharing them is burning them. Follow him on instagram @leo11boogie
Rites of Spring by Aletheia
About Aletheia: Aletheia is a Pittsburgh mixed media artist who focuses on anime and collage. She is inspired by Remedios Varo, nature, and Love Live School Idol Festival. Follow her on instagram @moondropflowerart
“Just because I want to” by Charley W
Gravity held me down again today. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have better luck but it’s looking less likely that I’ll be able to fly by the end of the week. The garden won’t stop growing. I haven’t weeded in about eighteen months and there’s an invasive species with a knack for hitting the windows. I got a cold from going out in the rain. Technically that’s not possible but everyone says it so it must be true; that’s how I knew I had no more potential. Day six: I’ve given up on the flying. A bird gave me side-eye when I climbed her tree and it made me feel too insecure to carry on. Next Christmas I’ll have wings. I’m sure of it, although perhaps not as sure as I would have been if that bird was more supportive. The road is slick with rain again. So naturally I danced barefoot and put a middle finger up at all the birds who flew over my head. Gravity won’t hold me back next year. I’ll be up there with the rest of them, pissing on everyone who looks just a bit too much like Boris Johnson.
About Charley: Charley is a London-based writer who perpetually wishes she were anywhere else. She loves poetry almost as much as she loves her cat and hopes that, one day, people will stop misspelling her name. She can be found on Instagram @Writtenbyme_C where the link in her bio will take you to her website, other social media, and possibly an alternate dimension.
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Instructions for zine:
Download this PDF file front and back on a single sheet of A4 paper (we suggest a slightly thicker paper so the ink doesn’t bleed through, or you can also print it on two separate pages and have a zine + poster of Aletheia’s beautiful work!)
Fold along solid lines and cut along dotted line (follow this little diagram I found online to make it easier!)
3. Enjoy our very first Hot People ____ Zine!!!!
Don’t forget to show these artists some love by sharing their work and stalking (oops, we mean following) their instagrams!! In the meantime, Kelly & Larissa will start working on our own spring awakening responses to these pieces… 🌱 🌻 🍄
Also also, make sure you’re subscribed to the newsletter so you receive next month’s issue: Hot People Host a Dinner Party 🍽️ plus, the reveal of an exciting new guest!
Poetry Trapper - I am starting a movement to ask Substack to put in a poetry section on the website - https://substack.com/profile/10309929-david/note/c-15537618
Feel free to support, and thank you as always :)