Page 41 - Solstice Art & Literary Magazine 2021

STELLA
DANG
AUTHOR PROFILE
Where do stories come from? I don’t know, ex- cept that I have little control over the matter: I’ve sat down to write an essay three times, and two poems came out. To overcompensate for my lack of control, I’ve learned to structure my storytelling with mathematical rigor, tailoring the truth to fit the shape of a story. Nevertheless, I can feel that writing is getting harder for me.
Entrepreneur Scott Belsky once wrote, “creative block is a consequence of avoiding the truth.” Therefore, creative processes are
at least in part endeavors to seek the truth. Where do stories come from? The same place, I suppose. There is only one story, and it is true. In my writing these days, I am attempt- ing to embrace the truth.
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Tianjin. That dress she bought was a timestamp. It was her way to feel less heavy than her burdens and more substantial than her tattered self.
Until time ran out. Seven.
Until we could no lon-
ger fit inside the glass slipper of youth.
Six.
Until we were shaped
by our new lives like an ill-fit- ting bodice.
Five.
Until our memories were washed away by nostalgia, which then turned into myth.
Four.
Until that was the only way we could see the beauty in each other.
Three.
Until we were made to
feel less than we are. Two.
Until the spell broke, and goodbyes were final.
One.
My mother never danced in that ball gown. It sat in her closet until it lost its mag- ical sheen. The edges frayed. The threads came apart, all cotton and linen.
BEHIND A CURTAIN OF HAIR • MARIA JIAO TIRED AFTER ASSEMBLING PHONES Pencil, Chorcoal • 17”x14” • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: Gold Key FOR TEN HOURS • MARIA JIAO
Pencil, Chorcoal • 17”x14” • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: Silver Key