Us

by | Jul 21, 2023

Us,
romping in the uncut grasses
we gathered across decades.
Us, our hands, squeezing
the desperate pigments

from four soured walls.
Us, singing with daytime vigor
and doubts all heaven-bound. Us,
and these word-taught lung whispers

propping up the big ladder,
watching the sea take the dim
dimming ground. Us,
going nowhere forcefully
like all tomorrows.

Us, never praying to arrive
in this empty air alone.
Us, I am, I hope
you are too.

Landscape with Stars (ca. 1905-1908), Henri-Edmond Cross (Henri-Edmond Delacroix). Courtesy of The Met.

Sam Warford

Sam Warford

Publab Fellow 2023

Sam Warford is a writer and editor from Los Angeles. After his time at Brighton Press, where he printed and assembled artists’ books by hand, he was a writer on an upcoming video game by Telescope Animation about saving the oceans. He currently works in marketing at the Institute of Culinary Education, creating content for their social media platforms and blog. Sam began his own magazine, Lunch Break, which experiments with various printing techniques and features local artists, writers, photographers, musicians, designers, and friends. The first issue is forthcoming.

Henri-Edmond Cross

Artist

Henri-Edmond Cross (1856-1910) was a French painter and printmaker. A leading practitioner of Neo-Impressionism, Cross was known for his novel use of broad brushstrokes and intense color.