1. The Exchange: To Our Flags
  2. The Exchange: The Negro Speaks of Dryland
  3. The Exchange: blue is darker than Black
  4. The Exchange: Sans Fleur
  5. The Exchange: Blindspot
  6. The Exchange: Her.
  7. The Exchange: Lint
  8. The Exchange: Reality Check
  9. The Exchange: Caution
  10. The Exchange: Rubik’s Cube
  11. The Exchange: The Path
  12. The Exchange: sTREEtS
  13. The Exchange: Butter
  14. The Exchange: The Bright Side
  15. The Exchange: Concrete to Shoreline
  16. This Empty Cage
  17. Paper Machete
  18. The Exchange: Marketplace
  19. The Exchange: One Year Anniversary
  20. The Exchange: Sunscreen Affective Disorder (SAD) 
  21. The Exchange: Immigration & Culture
  22. The Exchange: Love, Street Cleaning, & Other Myths
  23. The Exchange: An Accent Enters a Room and Says Good Morning
  24. The Exchange: An ode to Oceania
  25. The Exchange: Happy New Year
  26. The Exchange: NEW GROOVE/LODESTAR
  27. The Exchange: Wolves, Strides, and Landslides
  28. The Exchange: Honest Haikus
  29. The Exchange: Foreheads, Haikus and More
  30. The Exchange: Softness, Water Bottles, and Movie Theaters
  31. The Exchange: Algae and Understanding
  32. The Exchange: we like it here!
  33. The Exchange: tag & waiting
  34. The Exchange: spare
  35. The Exchange: Marketplace
  36. The Exchange: some coffee
  37. The Exchange: A Scary Story
  38. The Exchange: Consumer Report
  39. The Exchange: Affirmations and Sunflowers
  40. The Exchange: Autopay and A Fast Summer
  41. The Exchange: Squirrels and The White
  42. The Exchange: The Taj Mahal and Rutina de Sueño
  43. The Exchange: The Garden
  44. The Exchange: Jess Taught Me My Body Is Trying Its Best
  45. The Exchange: Jollof Rice and Losing it
  46. The Rotation
  47. The Exchange: Definitely late, but here, and Doubt
  48. The Exchange: KonMari and Yoga
  49. The Exchange: “Unexpected” and The Institution of Dreamin
  50. The Exchange: Dating a Girl From Chicago, and See
  51. The Exchange: Un alma cotorra
  52. The Exchange: Time Travel and Chasing Love & Ambition
  53. The Exchange: A List of Things That Went Missing That I Still Wonder About
  54. The Exchange: For Sale

[T]he Exchange is the Weekly’s poetry corner, where a poem or piece of writing is presented with a prompt. Readers are welcome to respond to the prompt with original poems, and pieces may be featured in the next issue of the Weekly.

tag by Chima “Naira” Ikoro

in this dream i knew you’d just departed,
but i did not let grief
stifle my laughter.
you tagged me, and i chased you through the hallways of a school
down the stairs, you leap over the banister
knowing i’d never catch you
we were running around like kids–-
like teenagers, who are also still children
despite what the world made of us
we were young
like you will always be
like you were when you left.

and i am still “it,”
woke up before i got to touch you again this is not a sad poem.
this is to say thanks.
thank you for visiting me, thank you for being so beautiful
when you were here,
so kind and so loving,
that my life is forever changed
even in your absence.

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The Weekly is accepting submissions for our Literary Issue.

Prompt:

“How do you practice and experience radical self-love, revolutionary thought (or action), or the reclamation of freedom and community?”

This could be a poem, journal entry, or a stream-of-consciousness piece. Submissions could be new or formerly written pieces.

Submissions can be sent to bit.ly/ssw-exchange or via email to chima.ikoro@southsideweekly.com by July 22, 2023

✶ ✶ ✶ ✶

Featured below is a reader response to a previous prompt. The last poem and prompt can be found here.

waiting by sid Mercury

Waiting has taught me to be
rooted into the earth
Sinking
Sinking, sinking deep
Beneath the earth’s surface
So still and quiet
But there are bones here
There is blood here
There is love here
With every breath waiting to
Feel your embrace. Waiting shows me who i am when i see
Myself
I see myself
My whole self
With every breath of waiting I hear the birds singing
Conspiring
And
Communicating
I think they like it when
We are still and quiet so we can appreciate their songs
Waiting teaches me to
Be present with my
Thoughts and self, waiting
Sometimes feels like
Weights
Stacking up on my chest
Waiting taught me to remember to breathe
Remember where love is
Centered
Remembering where love lives
Where life lives. Waiting has taught me that i am love
And I am loved as i am
Protected and i am
Protective.

✶ ✶ ✶ ✶

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