Helium

by Rudy Francisco

When you are the only black man in the whole neighborhood, your skin is that one friend who meets everyone before you do.

and isn’t that what masculinity has become? A bunch of dudes afraid of their own feelings, terrified of any emotion other than anger, yelling at the shadows on the wall, but still haven’t realized that we’re the ones standing in front of the light.

One day, I came across a picture of a strange-looking violin. The caption said it was made out of a rifle and I was like, someday that can be me.