aortaliterary magazineclaire youlauren youabigail anwinter edition2025-2026issue 2
000301 040205 - 09Editor’s note Anatomy Lesson Taking Our Jobs What Should I Do? The Waiting Pulse What does it mean to be human? TABLEOFCONTENT Claire You Lucy Varley Veronica Tucker Veronica Tucker Patrick Ullmer Plamen Vasilev 10 10 Rift My turn Matthew Birch 12 1311 14Falling Wide Denial Wears a Halo My Sweet Angelina Broken Pieces Jonathan Chibuike Ukah Lefcothea Maria Golgaki Raksha Isaac Dominion Aju Christine Belandres
15 1916 - 1718Alive Masthead Maameltein A Prisoner of My Emotions TABLEOFCONTENT Yiota D. Dienni Vartan Koumrouyan Moon 20Credits
What does it mean to be human?Aorta Literary Magazine was established August 2025, in hopes ofexploring this singular question through the perspective of hundreds andthousands of people. Welcoming the new year of 2026, Aorta has featureda total of over 40 impressive writers and their stories. Reaching contributorsfrom all over the world with different stories and a different voice, theeditors have been incredibly touched by this process. We hope tosuccessfully continue our journey of sharing stories by people, by humans,and by communities. The theme of Issue 2 is the “Vitruvian Man,” takingdirect inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous sketch, portrayinghumanity's connection between the earth and divine, blending art,science, and philosophy to show man as a microcosm of the universe. Theportrayal of man and humanity varies greatly from person to person, andreading these countless submissions, we are both honored and alwayslearning a new lens of humanity from them. Huge thanks to Lauren You(co-editor) and Abigail An (Editor) as well as the literary magazinecommunity that gave so much support to Aorta Literary Magazine.FROM THEEDITOREditor-in-Chief00 Aorta Literary Magazine
01 Aorta Literary MagazineTAKING OUR JOBSAt first, he would only say her name:The blessed-cursed two syllables of itSpilling from his mouth like oil, pooling, dripping,Spreading, spitting,The dull mass of it balancedOn the surface of the ocean,Suddenly, impossibly,Beginning to sink.They offered him new words to taste:“Wife” and “Drowned” and “Refugee”, whichLodged at the back of his throat, and whichHe was forced, like a clumsy child,To spit back out again.They gave him “condolences” and “grief”,Laced with insincerity,Which later made him sick.Then they gave him “home”.He watched it warily,Tasted it, chewed it, swallowed it,Liked the way itRolledDown the roof of his mouth,The slight touch of his lips.But as he said it- softly, experimentally –He felt the motion of his smileCrack and bleed his lips into the dust;Felt his love run down his cheeks,Tasting of English salt.And when they brought her, drowned, before himHe could not bring himselfIn his foreign, bloated, blightedTongue,To say her name.Lucy VarleyAbout: Lucy Varley is a 15-year-old poet and screenwriter fromLeicestershire, England. Her work explores themes of memory and loss,capturing fleeting moments with a lyrical, cinematic eye. She has beenpublished in Speak Out Magazine and serves on the Into Film YouthAdvisory Council.
02 Aorta Literary MagazineTHE WAITING PULSEThe room hums with soft machinery,a monitor counting out seconds in green light,each spike a reminderthat the heart is still trying.I press my stethoscope to skinas thin as paper,listening for more than rhythm,listening for what story survives the noise.The patient’s hand clutches mine,sweat gathering in the silence between beeps.We do not speak of outcomes,only of breath,a thread stretched tightbetween the known and the unknown.The chest rises, falters, rises again,each wave smaller than the last.The room is a tidepool of waiting.A single beep cuts throughlike a lighthouse sweeping fog.The aorta answers in its own language,steady for now,offering a question that carriesthrough the body of the living.Veronica TuckerAbout: Veronica Tucker is an emergency medicine and addiction medicinephysician based in New Hampshire. Her poetry has appeared in One Art,Medmic, and Eunoia Review. She writes at the intersection of medicineand humanity, exploring the pulse of what it means to be alive.
03 Aorta Literary MagazineANATOMY LESSONThe heart opens its book to me,pages of muscle folded and red.Every chamber whisperssomething about survival.The lungs, pale and trembling,are two poems trying to finish their lines.The liver strains through its sieve,collecting confessions in secret.In this body, I read history:a scar that interrupts the skin’s sentence,a fading tattoo curled at the wrist,a prayer once swallowedand left unfinished.Medicine asks for answers,but the body replies in riddles.Why do we endure?What do we carry?Where do we hide our grief?Even bone softens under time,even blood bends to memory.In the quiet between pulsesI trace the lesson again.We are not only tissuebut everything we have survived.Veronica TuckerAbout: Veronica Tucker is an emergency medicine and addiction medicinephysician based in New Hampshire. Her poetry has appeared in One Art,Medmic, and Eunoia Review. She writes at the intersection of medicineand humanity, exploring the pulse of what it means to be alive.
04 Aorta Literary MagazineWHAT SHOULD I DO?I never truly asked to be madeThe universe decided I should beUpon an adventure I feel I'm badeI must accept and take responsibility.Now that childhood is long behindThis is the time to look aheadWhether i am at ease or in a bindUpon an endless racetrack I'm led.I now must try to make the mostWith the time I'm of which I'm givenTo strive to not complain or boastWith this resolve I want to be driven.To better oneself is a question of how.The spirit is willing and flesh is weakI want freedom from my frailty nowTo enact strength, not just of it speak.Hero and scoundrel exist in the mirror.The dichotomy impossible to denyThe light at times appearing obscurerBoth good and evil pursue and defy.But I know what I am in presentAnd that is where my journey liesTo accept mistakes, not just resentAnd thank the fall for making me rise.Patrick UllmerAbout: Patrick Ullmer (28) was born in Rock Springs Wyoming in 1997, buthas spent most of his life in Upper Midwest. Having graduated with anAgricultural Communications Degree, he enjoys writing independentbooks and occasionally contributing articles to magazines andnewspapers.
05 Aorta Literary MagazineWHAT DOES IT MEANTO BE HUMAN?The question “What does it mean to be human?” has preoccupied philosophers, scientists, artists, andtheologians for centuries. It is a deceptively simple inquiry, but it opens a vast terrain of reflection: biology,culture, consciousness, morality, creativity, and our place within the universe.To be human is not only to exist as a member of the species Homo sapiens, but also to grapple with questionsof meaning, identity, and purpose. Unlike any other animal, humans construct elaborate symbolic worlds,cultivate complex social bonds, and imagine futures that may never come to pass.Yet these abilities come with paradoxes—our creativity is shadowed by destructiveness, our morality byhypocrisy, and our rationality by irrational desires.This essay critically examines the question of what it means to be human by exploring multiple dimensions:biological foundations, consciousness and self-awareness, sociality and culture, morality and ethics, languageand creativity, technology and transcendence, and existential vulnerability.Drawing on philosophy, literature, anthropology, and science, I argue that the essence of humanity lies not in asingle defining trait but in a constellation of interwoven capacities and contradictions. To be human is to inhabitthe tension between the biological and the symbolic, the individual and the collective, the finite and thetranscendent.From a biological standpoint, to be human means to belong to the species Homo sapiens. Our evolutionaryhistory situates us within the broader primate lineage, with chimpanzees and bonobos as our closest livingrelatives.The human genome is nearly 99% identical to that of chimpanzees, yet the small genetic differences haveyielded profound consequences: complex language, advanced tool use, and symbolic thought.Anthropology reveals that humanity is not a sudden phenomenon but a gradual emergence. Our ancestors,such as Homo habilis and Homo erectus, displayed increasing capacities for tool-making, fire use, and socialcooperation.The development of bipedalism freed the hands for manipulation, while the enlargement of the neocortexfacilitated problem-solving and communication. The biological “hardware” of the human body—especially theopposable thumb, upright posture, and large brain—provided the foundation for uniquely human culture andconsciousness.Plamen Vasilev
06 Aorta Literary MagazineWHAT DOES IT MEANTO BE HUMAN?Yet biology alone cannot answer the question of what it means to be human. While it defines the speciesboundary, it does not explain the inner life, symbolic thought, or moral imagination that characterize ourexistence. Humans are more than their DNA; they are meaning-making beings.A central feature of humanity is consciousness: the subjective awareness of self and world. Unlike otheranimals, humans not only perceive but also reflect upon perception. The philosopher René Descartes famouslyasserted, “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”), linking human existence to self-reflective thought.Consciousness allows humans to construct autobiographical narratives, to imagine futures, and to contemplatemortality.The philosopher Martin Heidegger described humans as “beings-towards-death,” uniquely aware of theirfinitude. This awareness creates existential anxiety but also motivates creativity and meaning-making. To behuman is to live with the paradox of knowing that life is temporary yet seeking permanence through art,memory, or legacy.Self-awareness also underlies moral responsibility. Unlike instinct-driven behavior, human actions are oftenpreceded by deliberation, choice, and evaluation. This capacity for reflection distinguishes humans from othercreatures, even highly intelligent ones. Dolphins or elephants may recognize themselves in a mirror, but onlyhumans grapple with questions of justice, freedom, and destiny.However, consciousness is double-edged. It brings not only knowledge but also alienation. As Jean-Paul Sartreargued, human consciousness is a perpetual striving, never fully at peace. To be human is to be aware of one’sincompleteness, constantly projecting oneself into possibilities.Humans are irreducibly social beings. Aristotle called man a “political animal,” emphasizing the necessity ofcommunity for human flourishing. From birth, individuals are dependent on caregivers, and throughout life,identity is shaped through interaction with others.Culture—the shared system of symbols, values, and practices—distinguishes humans from other animals. Whilesome species demonstrate rudimentary cultural transmission, human culture is cumulative and symbolic.Language allows knowledge to be preserved and transmitted across generations, enabling complexcivilizations.The anthropologist Clifford Geertz described humans as “animals suspended in webs of significance” theythemselves have spun. Culture is both enabling and constraining: it gives humans tools for self-expressionwhile shaping their worldview. National identities, religious traditions, and artistic expressions are products ofcultural imagination, yet they can also produce conflict, exclusion, and violence.Plamen Vasilev
07 Aorta Literary MagazineWHAT DOES IT MEANTO BE HUMAN?Sociality also encompasses empathy and compassion. Humans have evolved with mirror neurons and emotionalcapacities that facilitate bonding, cooperation, and altruism. Morality, as argued by philosophers from DavidHume to Emmanuel Levinas, emerges from the recognition of others as subjects with dignity. To be human, then,is not merely to think, but to be-with-others, embedded in webs of care, responsibility, and reciprocity.Humanity is often linked with the capacity for moral reasoning.Unlike animals that operate on instinct, humans deliberate about right and wrong, justice and injustice. Moralsystems vary across cultures, yet all human societies develop norms that regulate behavior, protect thevulnerable, and sanction transgressions.Immanuel Kant argued that to be human is to be a rational moral agent, capable of acting according to universalprinciples rather than inclinations.For him, human dignity derives from autonomy—the ability to legislate moral law for oneself. Other traditions,such as Confucianism, emphasize relational morality: humanity as expressed through harmony, benevolence, andfilial duty.Morality, however, is not always noble. Human history reveals hypocrisy, cruelty, and exploitation. The samespecies capable of compassion is also capable of genocide and oppression. Hannah Arendt’s notion of the“banality of evil” highlights that ordinary humans, not monsters, perpetrated atrocities by conforming to systemsof power. This duality underscores the tension at the heart of humanity: the coexistence of moral aspiration andmoral failure.To be human is thus to dwell within ethical ambiguity—to strive for justice while contending with selfishness,prejudice, and violence. The human moral condition is one of striving rather than perfection.Language is perhaps the most distinctive human capacity. It enables abstract thought, storytelling, and thecreation of shared realities. Through language, humans do not merely communicate facts but shape worlds.Myths, laws, literature, and science are all products of linguistic imagination.Creativity extends beyond language into art, music, and ritual. From Paleolithic cave paintings to modern digitalart, humans have sought to express themselves aesthetically. Art testifies to the uniquely human impulse totranscend mere survival and to engage with beauty, symbolism, and meaning.The arts also reflect humanity’s struggle with mortality. Literature and music often grapple with love, loss, andtranscendence. Art allows humans to project themselves into timeless forms, resisting the erasure of death. Inthis sense, creativity is both an expression of freedom and a response to finitude.Plamen Vasilev
08 Aorta Literary MagazineWHAT DOES IT MEANTO BE HUMAN?Moreover, creativity fuels scientific and technological innovation. The human capacity for imagination leads todiscoveries that reshape existence, from the wheel to artificial intelligence. Yet creativity also carries dangers—atomic bombs and surveillance technologies are as much products of human ingenuity as vaccines or poetry.Thus, to be human is to wield creativity with both promise and peril.In the modern era, technology has become central to human identity. Tools have always been extensions ofhuman capacities, but contemporary technologies blur the boundary between human and machine.Artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and cybernetic implants challenge traditional definitions ofhumanity.Some theorists argue that humanity is entering a “posthuman” condition, where biology is no longer the soledeterminant of identity. Transhumanists envision a future where humans transcend biological limitationsthrough technological enhancement. In this vision, to be human is to become more-than-human.Yet this raises ethical dilemmas. If humanity is defined by finitude, mortality, and vulnerability, what happenswhen technology seeks to erase these conditions? Would immortality through digital consciousness uploadspreserve humanity or annihilate it? Critics like Francis Fukuyama warn that altering human nature mayundermine the very basis of dignity and equality.Technology also poses existential risks. Climate change, nuclear weapons, and ecological destruction illustratehow human mastery over nature has become a threat to survival. To be human today is to confront the paradoxof possessing immense power without commensurate wisdom.At the heart of humanity lies vulnerability. Humans are fragile bodies subject to disease, aging, and death.Unlike other species, humans are acutely aware of their mortality, which shapes existential experience.Philosophers such as Søren Kierkegaard and Albert Camus emphasized the absurdity of human existence: thetension between the search for meaning and the silence of the universe. To be human is to confront thisabsurdity and to choose how to respond—through faith, rebellion, or creativity.Vulnerability also fosters empathy. The recognition of shared fragility underpins ethical solidarity. Literature, forexample, often evokes compassion by portraying human suffering. From Sophocles’ tragedies to modernnovels, art reminds us of our shared condition of loss, love, and longing.At the same time, vulnerability is a source of strength. It drives humans to build communities, create rituals ofmourning and celebration, and seek transcendence through religion or art. To be human is to find meaning notdespite vulnerability but through it.Plamen Vasilev
09 Aorta Literary MagazineWHAT DOES IT MEANTO BE HUMAN?For many, humanity cannot be understood without reference to spirituality. Religious traditions offer narrativesabout the origin, purpose, and destiny of human beings. In Christianity, humans are created in the image of God(imago Dei), endowed with dignity but marred by sin. In Buddhism, humanity is defined by suffering (dukkha)but also by the potential for enlightenment. In Indigenous traditions, humans are part of a sacred web of life,with responsibilities toward nature and ancestors.Religion addresses the existential questions raised by mortality and finitude. It provides frameworks formorality, community, and transcendence. Even in secular contexts, the human longing for transcendencemanifests in philosophies of meaning, aesthetic experiences, or quests for justice.Thus, to be human is also to be a spiritual seeker—whether through organized religion, personal faith, or secularhumanism. The spiritual dimension testifies to the human drive to situate life within a larger horizon ofsignificance.Defining humanity is not straightforward because humans embody contradictions. We are rational yetirrational, altruistic yet selfish, creators yet destroyers. The German poet Friedrich Schiller described humans asoscillating between the “sensuous” and the “rational,” between nature and freedom.These paradoxes suggest that humanity cannot be reduced to a single essence. Instead, it is a dynamicinterplay of tensions: individuality and community, finitude and transcendence, freedom and determinism. Thequestion of what it means to be human is less about finding a definitive answer than about acknowledging thiscomplexity.So, what does it mean to be human? It means to be a biological organism endowed with consciousness, selfawareness, and symbolic imagination. It means to live in community, bound by culture, morality, and empathy.It means to create art, language, and technology, to grapple with mortality and meaning, and to inhabitcontradictions that resist simple resolution.To be human is not only to exist but to question existence. It is to be vulnerable yet creative, finite yet strivingfor transcendence.The essence of humanity lies not in perfection but in the restless tension between what we are and what weseek to become.Ultimately, I believe to be human is to be unfinished—to live within an open horizon of possibilities, shaped byour past but oriented toward futures we continually imagine.This unfinishedness is both our burden and our gift. It is what makes the question “What does it mean to behuman?” an enduring inquiry, one that each generation must ask anewPlamen VasilevAbout: Vasilev is a freelance published andCertified author with big dreams who loves to helpothers.
10 Aorta Literary MagazineRIFTI tie myself to the earthA bridge we couldn't buildCollapsing into spaceMatthew BirchMY TURNTell me I’ll find love the way I dream of it. Tell me that my person will fetch meafter university and carry my bag even if I didn’t ask. Hug me from behind whenI’m bent over reading some snippet from The Atlantic. Kiss me on my temple infront of the camera when I get randomly interviewed about how we met each other.I try to avert from hope, but I see the subtexts in some young adult novel, acautionary tale on politics, a tone-deaf self-help book from the discount rack. Themore I do what I love, the more I wonder if I’ll ever have it love me back.Christine BelandresAbout: Matthew Birch, 24, fromLondon. Highly commended in Foyle'sYoung Poet of the Year Award 2016,Highly Commended in LincolnArmistice 100 competition 2018,shortlisted for the erbacce prize 2019About: Christine Belandres is a poet and writer from Cebu,Philippines. She is an undergraduate of Literature, and hasher work appear in several literary journals and small zines.She likes to read when she's not busy.
11 Aorta Literary MagazineMY SWEET ANGELINAIt's inevitable for us to meet againin the middle of our roads never to part,when parting is the bitterest dream;love that grew teeth is dying in vainwhile its death is not the same as living.I live in you but I die in your body,as your eyes wear my grave clothes,the tulip to a tree, the seed to the fruit.Can the wind blow without some dustwhirling in the air, filled with piecesof sticks, thistles and logs of wood,while life’s death is the winged moon,enamoured of the debilitation of time?When we whack the wind into fragments,we gather them in baskets of our dreams.There's a river, there's a mountain,there are the ever-flourishing meadows,forests brimming with a sea of flowers,both grow side by side, breathing air,breaking the same ground, the same hour,a life loaned to light scrolled in sunlightin which every dream has a divine dottingthat lulls its people towards death’s keep.Sweet Angelina, oh Sweet Angelina,my love dwells on nothing else,but on rivers of glory and gales of fun,the nucleus of life, the seed of death,the vortex of dying with the breath of life.I have masked turbulence with war and peace,when men show strength through wisdom,not the vagaries of lavish displays of power,that embodies the nutrients of naked beauty,that in eternal moments of our existence,there’s a Haven of misery in our partingwhere we meet in confusion’s conclavewith the wind of war blowing through the mire.How gorgeous it is to wear this dream as clothing,that makes us go through the streets of deathand re-emerge as kings and queens of life,tested through their doleful dust of dying,knowing that this is no longer death’s dream.Jonathan Chibuike UkahAbout: Jonathan Ukah writes poetry from London and featured in manyliterary magazines and anthologies. He has received may awards andpushcart nominations.
12 Aorta Literary MagazineFALLING WIDEHad time been generous,it might have taken him back to that blemishedday—when the intention was still true,suitable for poetic treatment.When he,unbound from the vices of conventions,lashed out, maiming friend and foe alike—a scene not of triumph, but disgrace.A loathsome business,to stubbornly defend the verse,dishonourable though its lines might beinside an already broken Arthurian circle.Lefcothea Maria GolgakiAbout: Lefcothea Maria, 48, comes from Greece and is a published author,scriptwriter, and playwright. She has contributed to four internationalpoetry collections with Scars Publications, The Poet, Candlelit Chroniclesand Adelaide Literary Magazine. Her work—including poems, flash fiction,and essays—has appeared in numerous journals such as BalestraMagazine, Uppagus, Litbreak Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Brazen Head,The Daphne Review, The Stray Branch and The Cannon's Mouth.
13 Aorta Literary MagazineDENIAL WEARS AHALOIn the shadow of virtue, theburden of tryingIs heavier than sin, it's masked indenying.We speak of peace, of love, ofgrace—But scratch the surface, it's allmisplaced.Still, even when the world won’tbend,We reach—not to fix, but tomend.A smile, a pause, a gentle refrain,Can soften the blowof invisible painRakshaAbout: Raksha, 18, is a writer and visual artist from India, whose workblends philosophical inquiry with emotive storytelling. Her poetry has beenfeatured in school anthologies and local literary circles. She continues toexplore the intersection of memory, identity, and metaphor through bothverse and watercolor.
14 Aorta Literary MagazineBROKEN PIECESWhen I sit down to write in quietI’m piecing the broken pieces of my worldtogetherMy bodyBruisedI’m sewing it togetherWhen I sit to writeI’m in a very delicate atmosphereI’m piecing things togetherAnd this is not a thing to be careless aboutHave you watched a seamstress sewing beadsonto a fabricWith her handsWith a needleCarefullyOne careful pierce after another?There’s no other way to make the beads stick ontothe cloth or fabricSo the seamstress has to sew with her handsThese are beadsShe would have to collect the beads togetherAnd carefully piece them togetherTurning chaos into purposeDisorder into orderMess into beautyMisalignment into alignmentAll these are done with a needleA threadHer handsThis is what I do to my soulWhen I write.Isaac AjuAbout: Raksha, 18, is a writer and visual artist from India, whose workblends philosophical inquiry with emotive storytelling. Her poetry has beenfeatured in school anthologies and local literary circles. She continues toexplore the intersection of memory, identity, and metaphor through bothverse and watercolor.
15 Aorta Literary MagazineALIVEHe clearlyremembers himself as an infantlooking down the length of the huge hull– the ship looked splendid—then devouring his eggsand an apple desert with meringuein a dining room with a titanic chandelier—the light was stunningthe ornaments flamboyanthe was feeling quite blessed.He recalls of not being afraidhe only remembers the pleasureof going plop! into the lifeboatand into the Mackinaw blanketon the deck of Carpathia.Then, he became a writer·his memory remained unsunk.Yiota D. DienniAbout: Yiota D. Dienni, born in 1973, is a professor in secondary school. Inher country she has published eight books of poetry, while several poemsof hers have been printed in electronic literature journals. She currentlylives with her family in Athens (Greece).
16 Aorta Literary MagazineMAAMELTEINThere was no apparent correlation during the war between the philosophical theories and religion in theLebanon. The war happened because people were of different persuasions, and not because of any politicalbeliefs or manifestation, as the division in society in Europe between right and left. The capitalist America and thecommunist USSR, and what was behind these ideas, respectively Adam Smith and Karl Marx, Foucault and Derida,against Milton Freedman and Frederich Hayek, the postmodern era of dialectic Enlightenment, the Frankfurtschool, the leftist circles, \"sublating\" each other, \"subtracting affirmative power from a negative movement, inconflicts leading to progress\", to oppose the \"leveling egalitarian grease of the wheel of the capital\".The war mentality didn't need complicated ramifications to be accepted in the light of monotheism in the MiddleEast; Christians, Muslims and Jews, and before that, as attested a bas relief in the Karnak Temple, Akhenaten,Nefertiti under the Sun God Aten, during the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BCE) in Luxor Egypte. Issues about Godwent a long way in the subconscious on the Mediterranean shore, and people could never agree who He reallywas.The conservative Phalangistes were Christians, West Beirut Muslims were leftists. Hagel against Nietzsche. Theegalitarian mentality against individual aspiration.In the innocent Lebanese society, there was no discussion or studies of these issues in the social sphère or themedia.The confrontation was expressed in the archaïc way by the use of force because its results were instantaneous.The resentment and anger was released on the front line with gunfire and shelling before life went back to its usualways.The only opposition to it I knew was on an individual level, the music I listened to on the short wave radio in bedat night. Some old blues songs from VOA, and later, the pop scene in Europe on the BBC, Elvis's Heatbreak Hoteland the heavy metal with angry guitar riffs of punk reflecting urban angst or opposing the Vietnam war.It was the music rather than the lyrics, because it interacted with feelings without the intervention of theintellect. It was natural, primitive and instantaneous, also because the lyrics were not printed on the sleeve of oldrecords, until the late eighties, and by that time, pop culture became a commodity and lost its début innocence ofJoni Mitchel’s Woodstock song.They were superficial perhaps, but some were emotion heavy and personal, like Layla, the Wedding Song or SadEyed Lady of the Lowlands, a 11.21 minutes existential riddle of poetry, that made Tom Waits say it could make him« work on the railroad or marry a gypsy » ; the song that gave Bob the Nobel Prize, some say, but I prefer Visions ofJohanna and Buckets of Rain.I was attracted to the existential ballads of Pat Barrett and Billy The Kid of Dylan. The soundtrack expressedmalaise, Garrett’s betrayal of his best friend Bill for personal advancement, ‘coz times have changed’, he tells him,and Billy answers, ‘but not for me’. Billy, faithful to his anti-corporate dream, as Garrett shoots him in bed before heshoots his reflections in the mirror, killing the dream, and what made him dream.This reflected a personal analysis of the world from his narrow view point. His words expressed a subtle kind ofanger during the Rolling Thunder Review Tour. Bob didn't express a societal malaise of right-left politics, becausethat era corresponded to the heyday of the American Dream, and everyone could have a 15 minutes fame and afirst million.Vartan Koumrouyan
17 Aorta Literary MagazineMAAMELTEINBob was only complying with the existing order and not challenging its validity, the way of Horkheimer, forinstance, except perhaps on the Masters of War.Mick of the Rolling Stones, says he didn’t get any \"Satisfaction\" at all from life, but this statement didn’t reallyreflect his involvement with the world ; luckily Keith made up for the band’s shortcomings and removed any doubts.In Beirut we loved these songs, and we had the volume booster, the \"equalizer\" on the dashboard with its tinylevers enhancing the purity of the sound and balanced the treble, bass and the singing voice, with a blue lightbehind the plastic fascia that made us feel navigating on thin air while driving, with the loud speakers thumping onthe side door amplifiers.There was big round pebbles pushed aside to clear the space for a parking area in a scrubland under a few pinetrees on the other side of road, and an old stone bridge at a distance that could have only been a Roman eraconstruction, the remains of a skeleton arch over a riverbed and dry undergrowth, judiciously positioned becausethe relief widened gradually as the land ascended in opposing mountain slopes over the bay.A dusty ground with cones and dwarf needles because of sea air and drought. Spruce pine perhaps, with itsaroma on hot summer days of myrrh and frankincense, hardly casting a shadow where my father parked his carwhen we came to the beach on Sundays in Maameltein, when I was a teen, and he had to open the windows toventilate the accumulated heat before he took us back home later at noon.The area was known as the \"blata\", under the Casino du Liban, on the Gulf of Jounieh.The blata was the cement slab poured on the craggy rocks under the casino as a building foundation that wasabandoned, briny sea water causing the cement to chip and the iron bars to rust in the cracks on the edge, whereit abruptly plunged into the sea.Fishermen came here to sit all day and cast their line in the deep water. It was later known to us as a fixture inour subconsciousness, representing an escape from the seclusion of the shelter and the war mood, when Pierredrove us here in his father's Mercedes Benz, with Abdo, Francis and Joseph, to swim at night after drinking Tequilaand beer.Going back home, we'd play Deep Purple's cassette, Smoke on the Water, fifteen years after its release. To us, itwas still the only riff in Heavy Rock we knew, before the Scorpions's Always Somewhere years later, with the lyricstelling the story of apiece of rock and roll chaos, baby.A place becomes an event, only when it is emotionally registered, said Raphael, the painter. And the riff of thatsong was our event, cruising along the bay of Jounieh, going home, beacons of feluccas of fishermen on the darksweep of water bobbing with the gentle swell. We didn't know the ramifications of the song back then, its originbeing Frank Zappa's Mother of Invention recording session in Montreux casino catching fire, smoke drifting on thelake at night, as Gillan and Blackmore watched from the other side of the shore.Vartan KoumrouyanAbout: Vartan Koumrouyan, born in Lebanon, lives in Paris, writes inEnglish.
18 Aorta Literary MagazineA PRISONER OF MYEMOTIONSIn the mirror's gaze, a prisoner I seeA reflection of my faithful companion, painThe weight of hurt, the sting of anguish deepA complex web of emotions that define my nameThe eyes that stare, a blank, hollow gazeInto a soul that's lost control, in darkened dazeThe chains of anger, bars of fear and painA captivity that's hard to break, a cycle of painTrapped in a labyrinth maze of my mindEvery step forward, I'm pulled back into the pastBy bonds of pain and anger, refusing to unwindFueling the flames that leave my heart achingA silent smiling gazeBut all I see is a reflection of the emotionsCaged within me: pain, anger, and self-pityAs I struggle to break free from the darkness of nightThe darkness whispers, \"You're to blame\"A voice that echoes, fueling the flamesI've been nothing, butA prisoner of my emotionsMoonAbout: Moon is an introspective and emotional writer,. Born in 2000 inNigeria, Moon has had a passion for writing from a very young age. Moonhad participated in a 12 hour poetry marathon.
MASTHEADLauren is a college freshman in NJ, USA. She enjoys writing as wellas reading. Some of her favorite authors include Donna Tart and R.F. Kuang. As a hobby, Lauren likes to go to art exhibitions andexplore NYC.Abigail is currently a high school sophomore in New Jersey. Shehas a strong interest in true crime, often spending her timelistening to podcasts and researching cases that capture herinterests. Abigail has won multiple awards for her artwork andenjoyed doodling in her free time. Her hobbies include traveling,drawing, journaling, and listening to artists like george.Lauren You, Co-EditorAbigail An, Editor19 Aorta Literary MagazineClaire is a high school sophomore in NJ, USA. As an avid writer, Claireenjoys writing poetry and personal memoirs. She is a national goldmedalist for poetry through Scholastic Art and Writing and has beenfeatured in multiple publications. Other than writing, Claire enjoysphotography and digital design. In her free time, she enjoys traveling andlistening to artists like Isiah Rashad and Dean.Claire You, Editor-in-Chief
DEDICATED TO BRINGING WRITING TO LIFEAORTALITERARYMAGAZINE20 Aorta Literary Magazine