Old Aged (for Annie) | short fiction by Dey Rivers
"They talk in whispers as if I cannot hear them. They have questions about my care..."
Welcome to Khôra, a dynamic online arts space produced in collaboration with Lidia Yuknavitch’s Corporeal Writing. Visit our Archive to read previous issues. Scroll down if you want your work to be considered for future issues.
Over the next two weeks we’ll be introducing you to the members of KHÔRA’s new curated team. This brilliant group of writers and artists is collaborating with us to bring you four gorgeous new issues. Today’s short fiction is by multidisciplinary artist Dey Rivers with artwork by Christine Shan Shan Hou.
Dey Rivers is a non-binary Black american navigating mental health challenges, playing in fictional worlds and poetry, painting and collective dreaming where they reside on stolen land. Their work is based on Sankofa, in conversation with the past and present to imagine futures. They have an educational background in Fine Arts and mental health advocacy, and were selected for the 2020 Ooligan Press Writers of Color Showcase. Dey is currently revising a queer historical novel.
Christine Shan Shan Hou is a poet and artist of Hakka Chinese descent. Their publications include The Joy and Terror are Both in the Swallowing (After Hours Editions 2021) Community Garden for Lonely Girls (Gramma Poetry 2017), and “I'm Sunlight” (The Song Cave 2016). Their artwork has been exhibited at White Columns and Deli Gallery in New York City.
Old Aged (for Annie) by Dey Rivers | artwork by Christine Shan Shan Hou
Two people introduced themselves in bright-eyed enthusiasm. They pasted over my cracks. Installed silver contraptions with vibrant colored screens full of their memories and flashy dreams. I made the mistake of showing them the family of mice who’ve kept me company for the past few years. They suggested some changes they said would make me more comfortable. Instead, they killed the mice.
I cursed those two all the way out…
Artists and Writers
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With galactic gratitude,
Leigh
Leigh Hopkins
and the Corporeal/Khôra squad