Creativity and Culture
A place for art, poetry, reviews, and fun featured in Dissonant Times.
Combat Queers
Op-ed || Views expressed by parties interviewed or by the author of this article are not representative of everyone involved. "Growing up I was attacked on the street for being gay. I was a pacifist for a long time until I realized that pacifism without the threat of...
Dancing Between Worlds: Dyke Night
You trade your five dollars for a stamp from the bouncer with a nod as you step into the dimly lit room. John Henry's is busier than you've ever seen, the counter is crowded, exhausted bartenders run around filling everyone's orders. You breathe a sigh of relief that...
On The Usefulness of Poetry
If gaza is the soul of Palestine, The west bank is the heart, And both are bleeding, Both are in a state of shock, Tractors across their veins, Their arteries poisoned, Their airwaves struggling for life. Maybe the time for poetry is dead, Buried in a mass grave Along...
community, access intimacy, and failure / May 2025
To be disabled is to have failed. I don’t mean we’ve failed inherently, but our culture tells us whose bodies matter, and it’s not us. Having failed gives as certain problems, like with making money, staying housed, finding partners, keeping our children,...
Artisanal Avarice
By: Mara X I’ve become obsessed with a particular kind of hobby. These hobbies focus on an experience which has a consistent baseline and is usually engaged in casually. The hobby is in the optimization and customization of the experience, the expansion of its...
Joy & Sacrifice
By: Persephone This was largely written in the wake of Aaron Bushnell's brave and tragic self-immolation in protest of the genocide in Gaza, in response to the feelings this stirred in me—parts of me that felt a deep sense of recognition in the likely motivations for...
a love poem
if i die before i say "i love you" i made sure you'll find out i told everyone else, everyone who would listen, to make sure its not time yet i'm not brave yet to tell you myself but the chance that you would never know is too risky to bear so i told the baker and I...
Mel’s Hovel, Part 1 & 2
Water droplets seemed to freeze in the air as Mel’s paws splashed through the puddles marking her way home. The last rain left, much to her delight, several more than usual scattered over the well worn path through the woods. Well worth the worry ignited by the strong...
Trans Day Letter to the Mayor
I met the mayor at the Lavender Network and Transponder art show on March 30th 2025. I had three pieces in the art show, and I was glad to be part of the whole experience. The next morning I wrote a letter to the mayor because of the Transgender Day of Visibility...