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
  55. The Exchange: Dime’s Declassified School Survival Guide

The 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

The Cardinal Rule of Time Travel by Chima “Naira” Ikoro

rule number one about time traveling is to leave the past unchanged aside from what you are visiting for. often times, we watch as a character is tempted to defy this cardinal rule, we scream at the screen, our voices falling short of the pixels that separate us from another reality. 

i used to tell myself that if i could go back in time i would keep myself away from so many people. every time bitterness floods me, i look off into the eyes of an alternate self that never knew what a heart breaking sounds like and i miss her. 

the other day, as i looked in her direction, fighting through the sting of betrayal protected by squatters’ rights living rent free in my tear ducts, i saw myself alone, never having learned what the rain sounds like and unable to dress for the weather in her adulthood. 

heartbreak is like a tonsillectomy, a necessary procedure for some of us who aren’t so fortunate. they prove to be more difficult when the patient is an adult; the younger you are, the less scar tissue you’ve built up with each passing infection. 

i time travel, and return to the future grateful that heavy rain taught me how to patch a roof. now, i own things that are too valuable to get wet. i learned how to grieve a friend still living when i had enough free time to cry. now, i have bills to pay. 

like, who has time for that? 

i time travel, and i leave my whole self behind. instead i gather the pieces of me that i managed to not lose, i realize they are the most important ones. i turn my face away from the past, my entire being dry and protected.  

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Prompt: 

“If you could travel back in time, instead of thinking about what you could change, write about what you’d keep the same.” 

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 

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

Chasing Love & Ambition by Lauriel Brooks

Chasing Love and Ambition
A sign of admission
A desire of most
A few like to boast
Of late nights
And confessions
Of dark days and depression
Aimless walking and ventures
Full of late night adventures
A slate blank and its open
A mind free from devotion
A canvas waiting for a painting
A life ready for the taking
The 20’s don’t need a plan
Just an idea or a stance
To move mountains or molehills
To find pleasure in most fields
To experience life at its finest
When wine is flowing
We feel spineless
Ability to be free
Some can make it
Some must flee
Each life will be different
Each story will unfold
Chase love and ambition
The oldest story ever told

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Chima Ikoro is the Weekly’s Community Builder.

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