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On Such a Full Sea Are We Now

March 17, 2023/ Jemma Leigh Roe

At the beach house, Mama cooked whole crabs alive.

Through the steam, we watched them slowly seize up


and stiffen like the dead fish that washed ashore

on the day you cut your foot on shattered glass.


When sand stuck to your weeping wound, I couldn’t clean it

saltwater stinging its red lips, widening the pain


inside us. I carried you back, scared of you walking barefoot

through the regurgitation of aluminum cans


and cigarette butts no one told us about.

Everything gleamed: plastic bag jellyfish


pill bottle mother-of-pearl. You were only three

I was thirteen, unable to protect you well enough.


In bed, I still heard the tide hollering at me

and wished the sea would swallow its detritus


wished I could climb out from the pool of heat I sank in

tear off the clothes that clung to my skin like a shell


and run back into the icy water

untouched by man.


At the beach house nine years later, I watch crabs

scuttle among the tall grasses


that leaned with the ripple of the surf.

I pick up a browned paper cup


and an empty candy wrapper

to build you a sandcastle.


I wish you could see how pretty it is now

when the moon pulls the sea like a blanket


over the undisturbed shoreline, where nothing reflects light

except the memory of your eyes in the blue.



Jemma Leigh Roe Headshot

Jemma Leigh Roe has poems and artwork published or forthcoming in The Journal, Fugue, Iron Horse Literary Review, Lunch Ticket, Permafrost Magazine, and others. She received a PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures from Princeton University. More of her work can be found at www.jemmaleighroe.com.

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Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published the second Friday of every month.

Today’s course:

The Enduring Haunting of a Failed Driver’s Test(s)

September 15, 2023/in Blog / Meghan McGuire
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Glitch Wisdom

May 12, 2023/in Blog / KJ McCoy
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Lessons on Getting Paid: My First Year as a Freelance Writer

April 14, 2023/in Blog / EJ Saunders
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Midnight Snack

Take a bite out of these late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

The Secret Histories of Everywhere

June 2, 2023/in Midnight Snack / Brian Lynn
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Into the Linguistic Rabbit Hole

May 5, 2023/in Midnight Snack / paparouna
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Dancing into Detachment

April 7, 2023/in Midnight Snack / Robert Kirwin
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School Lunch

An occasional Wednesday series dishing up today’s best youth writers.

Today’s slice:

I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

May 12, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Brendan Nurczyk
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SL-Insta-Brendan-Nurczyk-2.png 1500 1500 Brendan Nurczyk https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Brendan Nurczyk2021-05-12 10:18:392022-02-01 13:24:05I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

A Communal Announcement

April 28, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Isabella Dail
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Seventeen

April 14, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Abigail E. Calimaran
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-Insta-Abigail-E.-Calimaran.png 1080 1080 Abigail E. Calimaran https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Abigail E. Calimaran2021-04-14 11:22:062021-04-14 11:22:06Seventeen

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Word From the Editor

If you are an artist of any kind, chances are you are no stranger to The Unknown. In fact, it has probably been a motivating factor in creating your art. I know it has been for me. Wrestling with The Unknown is a fundamental part of the human experience, and the human experience is a fundamental part of art.

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