"CENTER" IN THE UNDER REVIEW #5

My lyric essay, "Center" is up at The Under Review, issue #5 (Winter 2022). You can read the piece here. This hybrid work from my project Ablation expresses the experience of losing my mom through the lens of Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, who lost his mom, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, tragically a few months before mine passed away. The post-game interview referenced in the essay from 12/23/20 can be viewed here. The essay also references the documentary THE TOUGHEST YEAR OF MY LIFE, which can be viewed here. My deep and sincere thanks to Towns for sharing his experiences and story with honesty, integrity, and vulnerability. Holding his grief helped me release some of mine. 

Thanks also to managing editor Meghan Maloney-Vinz for feedback that helped shape this work into its best form and to Terry Horstman and everyone at The Under Review.