Inania (empty place)

Winter 2025 Issue 1

AUDRA BURWELL

I once loved the absence of a person
the empty space on a page
cracks etched in wallpaper—
how skin retains the memory
of an object now gone
indentations becoming
untold lives housed
in the body

I remember
lying in fields of rippling wheat
staring at the sky—
my extremities numb
earth-soiled
aching to be touched
I feared and longed for connection

like when I rescued a wounded barn owl
from an almond orchard
right eye mangled, weeping
yellow and white pus
wrapped in a blanket, I offered
it strips of raw chicken
but it rejected my efforts
in the morning, I found it dead—
head slumped beneath a lifeless wing
feathers lackluster in dawn’s rays
I cried, not for its suffering
but for its abandonment,
like the caterpillar maple leaf shrouded
the stray cat stuck in an air conditioner
the boy next door who never came
promised at sunset

I have become a snow-drenched peak
at seven thousand feet
the cut on the webbing of your thumb
no one asks about

the silence that sinks your throat
when you swallow

AUDRA BURWELL is a dedicated writer, poet, and communications professional with a passion for creative expression and community engagement. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from California State University, Fresno, and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a specialization in poetry. In her professional role as Communication Coordinator at College Bridge, a nonprofit organization committed to increasing college access and success for underrepresented students, Audra combines her love for storytelling with her commitment to making higher education more accessible. Audra’s work has been featured in over thirty journals and magazines, including New Note Poetry, Palaver Journal, Flora Fiction, Deep Overstock, and Snapdragon Journal, among others. Her poetry has also been highlighted on the Do Fiction Podcast. A member of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society, Audra has contributed to the literary world through her leadership in workshops at the Young Writers Conference and her editorial roles with Spectrum Journal, The Normal School, and the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry.

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