100 sentiments across 100 postcards in 100 days
Everyday observations. Stories told to me. Emotions captured in snapshots. Mini world-building around a word or phrase. Fictionalized moments. These short sentiments are being jotted down in poetry or prose on postcards and sent across the country. Each piece is documented below.
sapid
adjective
having a strong, pleasant taste
(of talk or writing) pleasant or interesting
01/100
[Front] “Högsåra”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: Connecticut
01/100
Color behind closed eyelids is usually
not
quite
black
Today I see blue that languidly changes,
pulsing through a basic spectrum
controlled by the lights in this shell
hypnotic
sedating
inprismed
I wonder what colors you see
behind those fleshy veils of yours
If you took a moment to breathe and
close
your
eyes,
would you recognize a void or a marvel?
02/100
[Front] “Kivet”, 1956²
[Back] Destination: California
02/100
She turned her head toward the brilliance of sunlight streaming through the window and felt her body inconsistently warming by the transient heat of a source being bothered by wandering cloud cover. The hours for sunbathing had been dwindling lately, and she had no concept of changing seasons. She yowled loudly at her human to fix this right meow.
03/100
[Front] “Ruusupuu”, 1957²
[Back] Destination: Washington
03/100
The truth of the matter was that the sound of his voice, which she hadn’t heard for years until now, still stirred a murmuration of emotions within her that started deep in her core and startled her with its intensity in the days after. The words said weren’t important; it was the timbre that flooded her thoroughly with remembrance of the once-had heat of mutual desire. She wanted to hear him put her name in his mouth again.
04/100
[Front] “Joonas”, 1961²
[Back] Destination: North Carolina
04/100
“It’s a long story,” he said,
Not quite meeting my eyes
He shared that he’d been upset
(About a girl, I surmise)
But he only revealed tidbits,
Short answers to every question
The backstory seemed shallow
(The problem too - my impression)
What I heard seemed a series of self-told lies
He didn’t want the girl; he wanted possession.
05/100
[Front] “Satula”, 1960²
[Back] Destination: Colorado
05/100
What sits with me longest is how, no matter how tortuous and uncertain the path was, she always found a way to charge forward with her signature zeal and loud curiosity, both of which would put even the most precocious of toddlers to shame. That was the case for not only actual roads and alleys but also hobbies and other novel interests. I cherished those moments then and even more so now, now that she’s gone.
06/100
[Front] “Kivet”, 1956²
[Back] Destination: Georgia
06/100
I'm hiding behind a nonchalance
That frankly is unflattering and just
Unbecoming
But I need to because I don't want
What had once been
Becoming
To reach a state of become or became
For even after all this time, you'll be my
Unbecoming
So I must act distant and distasteful and
Never give us a chance for me to utter
I'll be coming
07/100
[Front] “Silkkikuikka”, 1961²
[Back] Destination: Minnesota
07/100
A flit, a twit, a showing of wit
Orange rust-breasted and proud
Commonly sighted
Yet we’re still delighted
When the robin swaggers out loud
Wings lush, true thrush, under brush
Black-hooded and debonair
Easily found across all lands
Yet we’ll stop to hear demands
When cheery carols fill crisp air
08/100
[Front] “Lokki”, 1961²
[Back] Destination: Maine
08/100
I learned from people
With tender relationships
I left my heart behind
On Main Street
The street now called historic
Where we’d soberly caroused
Fruit smoothies and soda pop
Skipped on brick sidewalks
Browsed thrift shops and gift shops
Tried on new personas
Only to realize what I now rediscover
We are who we were all along
09/100
[Front] “Ryijy”, 2011³
[Back] Destination: Tennessee
09/100
I heard pop songs could cure heart aches,
So I must be listening to the wrong tracks.
Someone recommend me a new playlist,
One where each lyric better tracks,
Better matches reverberations in me,
Ripples when I stopped in my tracks,
That moment you said it’s over,
Said we’re meant for different tracks.
I replay your words in my head nightly,
Heart skipping, wounds where you left tracks.
It must’ve been easy for you to say all that,
Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks.
10/100
[Front] “Melooni”, 1963²
[Back] Destination: Washington
10/100
It was a Lilliputian thing to fret about but nevertheless, she did. She made an occupation of always doing such, no matter the matter, and though he always tried to talk her away from whatever set her off, his words were never right. “Nonsense” wasn’t it. “Irrelevant” suggested judgment. “Not worth your time” felt belittling, especially because she couldn’t control what exactly her mind decided to fixate on that week, or ever. Today, it was the color of her bath sponge.
11/100
[Front] “Ananas”, 1962²
[Back] Destination: California
11/100
If she had gotten a bigger coffee or a more complicated drink, she wouldn't have run into him at that exact moment. Warmth spread across her face before she’d even taken a sip. He smiled and put his cup down on the small table next to the bench he was about to sit on, looking at her with curious consideration. The heat on her cheeks made her brazen instead of shy. No one had looked at her like that since her most intimate romantic ex-relationship; yet this man was a complete stranger.
12/100
[Front] “Unikko”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: Massachusetts
12/100
Buckwheat was the color
Lackluster was the tone
Scrawny was the body
It would cry when left alone
I found it near the tunnels
Gray cement were their make
Damp and stale were their airs
Cries and echoes were their take
Stifled anger is my outward expression
Concerned strongly is my thought
Rescuing it today is my action
A love like this can’t be bought
13/100
[Front] “Kaivo”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: Virginia
13/100
They toddled after each other around the parked cars in the driveway, both harboring arthritic knees that felt extra sensitive this morning. At least the man could rationalize why he was grumpy - the cooler temperatures that autumn brought were no friends to his joints. His dog, however, stutter-stepped around the front yard without any idea why he didn’t feel so great. They were both already such an ornery duo on any given day that their neighbors were wary of what today would bring out of them.
14/100
[Front] “Siamilaissydämet”, 1965²
[Back] Destination: Washington
14/100
An acquiescent aroo
Beneath blue blanket bliss
Caressing cold colorful coats
Dogs daring drowsy daydreams
Effortless enthusiasm
Forgetting favors for favoritism
Good girl, good goobs
Happy harrumphs held high
Inciting inquisitive investigations
Joy joy joy
Keep kerfuffling! Kerplunk!
Little less lively, little loves?
15/100
[Front] “Mansikkvauoret”, 1969²
[Back] Destination: Pennsylvania
15/100
I’ve somehow fabricated marvelous holes in my memories. These forced forgotten moments leave me feeling bereft in random places I go and at random times of the day. Maybe my body senses a trigger of familiarity but because the brain is a magnificently powerful machine, it puts any burgeoning thought into a chokehold and drags it away before any sense is made. This doesn’t seem like closure. I feel unresolved. Who are you - the idea that I want, the memories gone blank?
16/100
[Front] “Tuuli”, 1971²
[Back] Destination: Washington
16/100
They say that knowing how to use words well is a gift. I think, rather, that it’s a grift. For what do words do but make hearts and souls swell with emotions that weren’t there just a moment ago, siphoning the currency of your energy without permission? You cannot unread what you read; you cannot unthink what you thought. The impetus was an arrangement of letters or characters, foisted upon you by some author with no authority yet with the power to sway your day.
17/100
[Front] “Seireeni”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: California
17/100
What’s laudable is oft not audible
A kindness simply put
Will not gain loud accolades
Yet the gesture will hopefully fester
In all the right ways
Infectious empathy and understanding
Seeing just one get the right thing done
We humans learn from example
Mirror neurons firing rapidly
It begets a revolution, true societal evolution
Continue with all intents and purposes
To will goodwill into every being
18/100
[Front] “Bo Boo”, 1975⁴
[Back] Destination: North Carolina
18/100
Today I chase the hearsay
H for the harm that it has caused you
E for the eagerness they have to believe it
A for the anger growing within me
R for the rage future stories will tell of
S for the stupidity of misunderstandings
A for the anger growing within you
Y for the youth I plan to extinguish
It’s a pursuit I gladly fixate on
Digging deeper to find the source
Because even if you think it truth too
I know you better than you do
You are not what rumors you hear
You are not what lies they say
19/100
[Front] “Päärynä”, 1969²
[Back] Destination: California
19/100
It was a pear-based liqueur
Deceptively not sweet
Sharp for the uninitiated
Lined fire down the throat
Foreign unregulated potency
A spirit that stoked spirit
Strengthened a resolve to speak
Disregarding the hour
Selfish request to sate a simple desire
To demand and be heard
Thoughts carried over miles
Noise that soothed the brain to hear
The buzz a balm in the palm
Fruitful and surprisingly forward
20/100
[Front] “Unikko”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: New York
20/100
The crust was crude and the scoring haphazard, but we’d done it all by ourselves. We had our hands in every step and the bramble scratches to prove it. From picking blackberries together in the rain to you accidentally falling onto the half-full bag of our harvest to rolling out top and bottom dough layers to hide the sweet treasure within, we ended up with jam pie. When a red-violet smudge stained your cheek, I wondered, “Can we stay like this, in this moment, forever?”
21/100
[Front] “Maalaisruusu”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: Colorado
21/100
I keep refreshing the view even though I know it's an unreasonable hour for anyone to respond, much less someone who hasn't heard from me in more than a decade, through some email account created when we were kids. I don’t even know if you have access to the inbox where my midnight message has landed or if you’re in the same region anymore. What if the timestamp reads 3AM? What if you’re no longer on this earth? No one’s heard from you. I hit Refresh again.
22/100
[Front] “Fandango”, 1962²
[Back] Destination: California
22/100
She turned the scene over in her mind every which way, plucking at slight moments when a small change might have altered the events that followed that day and in the months after. Would the conversation have shifted from its light topics to more heady discussion? If it had, would they have stayed there talking through the night or retired to someplace more intimate and private? Did the seat choice matter? The music? Would she have willingly missed her train?
23/100
[Front] “Puu Kuutamossa”, 1979²
[Back] Destination: California
23/100
Equanimity is not inherited but learned
Enduring a certain amount of stress
Meant to unbalance the mess that
Others have strewn about you
About you.
That calm, cool, collectedness
Hides an eternal, bellicose blaze
Fettered by decorum and shame
Recognizing that combustion requires
Just a few small things
Just within reach, but spurned,
Only warming bones
Passing down an anonymity that
Persists as it resists.
24/100
[Front] “Kuuma”, 1978⁵
[Back] Destination: Washington
24/100
It extended two careless legs down the silk before realizing that there had been a tear with the sudden gust that had come from beyond the trees. The pioneering appendages flailed briefly before retracting, and the remaining legs led the scuttle sideways toward the most obvious intrusion to its previously perfect residence. A spattering of wispy gnats had been caught in the stickiest threads, so light that their capture had nearly been imperceptible if not for the combined weight threatening another tear in the web.
25/100
[Front] “Päiväntasaaja”, 2003⁶
[Back] Destination: North Carolina
25/100
I spoke to him the other day
Told him how much you’ve grown now
That you’re positively well-known now
How studying arts
From all this country’s parts
Gave you what you needed to leave
Helped you when you had to grieve
Turned fear of hoodlum to hoodwinker
(He didn’t believe you’d be a thinker,
But I knew)
It’s true
You’ve got every one of us enthralled
Poetic pieces though your heart’s walled
Showing, not telling, what you’d say
26/100
[Front] “Kuja”, 1976⁵
[Back] Destination: California
26/100
She narrowed her eyes at the forest green stripes on the heirloom tomato her friend just slipped into her palm. They were scraggly, almost tiger-like across just the top half of the plump fruit. Or maybe they resembled her belly stretch marks. The red underneath was dark where the stripes lay and progressively lightened downward. Though the summer sun was relentlessly bearing down on them, she thought of Christmas and how the garden’s ornament would be gone by then.
27/100
[Front] “Isot Kivet”, 1959¹
[Back] Destination: Washington
27/100
How can you get so angry that your eyes change color? It’s just black on white, no hue imbued. I’ve never known the sensation of a successful de-escalation when you get like this. It’s a frenzy fraught with frantic fricatives, and I know how I’d feel if I yearned hard enough, pushed hard enough for resolution but this is who we are. The world is too small for our feelings. Both yours and mine. So we continue on and acknowledge that you have your rage and I my overwhelm.
28/100
[Front] “Kulkue”, 2007³
[Back] Destination: Washington
28/100
It’s hard to miss blue lipstick
They wore it so well that day
Glimpsed on the subway platform
Causing several double takes
Where does one get that shade?
We should all wear it more
On our lips, eyes, nails, hips
In our minds, dreams, hopes, lives
A blue that keeps us riveted
Listening closely to its stories
The joy on their brow was obvious
Inner peace had been found
It’s hard to find blue lipstick
The search goes on and on
29/100
[Front] “Rantapuisto”, 2005⁵
[Back] Destination: California
29/100
Squeak of old real wood furniture
Dusty shades on windows and lamps
I came across such antiquities
In a house overrun with scamps
They scattered when I entered
Knowing they were not to be here
Your presence still lingers, Bear
Our memories too, from every year
I run my palms across the cupboards
Spy long-familiar scuffs in the rug
Dirt has accumulated on the trims
Corners have welcomed every bug
Though I no longer know this land’s air
It seems like you’re still everywhere
30/100
[Front] “Unikko”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: California
30/100
He had an obsession with permanence, as evident by the materials and company he kept. I’d heard that he’d already sunk money into at least six different organizations in the pursuit of immortality, waiting to see which investment would prove fruitful and take him on as the most premier client. He hosted salons with individuals likewise possessed. This fixation left little time and attention for those around him, people and things both, to be regarded seriously for existing in the moment.
31/100
[Front] “Ostjakki”, 1983⁵
[Back] Destination: New Jersey
31/100
She inhaled deeply from the steaming bowl that had just been set down in front of her, welcoming the fact that the aroma would stay quilted in her hair for days. The broth would bring her burning throat relief in the moment but the scents that remained would bring her comfort once she burrowed back into the blankets on the bed, nestling in wool, fleece, hair, and a fierce hope that the fever would break soon. She was supposed to be taking care of Mom now, not the other way around still.
32/100
[Front] “Puutarhakutsut”, 1989⁵
[Back] Destination: Washington
32/100
Subject lines are hard, G_
I’m open to ideas though
I know from emails I get myself
That URGENT! is a falsity
Failing to OPEN NOW! is no calamity
WINNER! is often invitation to fraud
And IMPORTANT is subjective
Yet I want to use them all somehow
Because it’s urgent and important
That you open and read it
The moment you receive my email
As you’ll be the winner of a rarity:
My apology.
I’m sorry.
33/100
[Front] “Kuiskaaja”, 2006³
[Back] Destination: California
33/100
Fortified by the surety of footfalls above him, the boy let go one more hitched breath and forced himself to stand tall before continuing up the trail. This was one of the least treacherous routes up the mountain but he’d always paled in constitution compared to others. The numerous switchbacks mocked his endurance but he held his father’s words like a mantra: “one step at a time,” and almost all of a sudden, there he was at the summit, gasping out chuckles while his brothers clapped him on the back, whooping loudly.
34/100
[Front] “Lumimarja”, 2004⁴
[Back] Destination: Washington
34/100
Settle down, they say,
As if you could ever do so
As if there were an on-off switch
That you would flick in an instant
To be turned away, quieted, placated
No, every insult eventually blooms
Fruit made whole by truths
Traveling through the roots
So you know where they stem from
The harvests allow us to gather
Together we commune with care
The only settling down you’ll do
Comes after baskets are plentiful
And we have space to plan
35/100
[Front] “Mökki”, 2006¹
[Back] Destination: Florida
35/100
Incessant: the caterwauling strings of an impassioned but talentless guitarist buffoon who’d discovered music late enough in his years to afford the best and loudest amplifiers a tenured career in finance could buy. Insouciant: the attitude of said neighbor whenever a strongly worded letter was taped to his door by the roaming HOA representatives outlining the complaints they’d received in writing. Insufficient: the hardiness of the wood of said amps compared to the wood of several impassioned, neighborly baseball bats.
36/100
[Front] “Purnukka”, 2008⁶
[Back] Destination: California
36/100
She packed seeds of inspiration tightly in jars, neither categorized in any discernible way. Once stashed, they were safe. She’d learned long ago that not every one germinated into a plant that she was prepared for and casting them frivolously was foolish. Who knew what would grow if the environment was right and she wasn't around to nurture it herself? No, now that they were contained, she could pluck them at will, savor their musk, and protect them from the world.
37/100
[Front] “Paratiisi”, 1996⁵
[Back] Destination: Massachusetts
37/100
Dust motes seen in sunlight streams
Weightless ephemera, it seems,
Free-floating around our still seams
His rumbling snores, easily heard,
Muffled by cushions he’d gathered
The bounty of which is always assured
I dip my head to breathe deep his fur
Scent grass, dirt, pine, and burr
Adventure that tiredness could not deter
Upon my touch follows a long sigh
Content and spent after flying high
We tasted the day together, sweet bear
Tomorrow we’ll find what else is out there
38/100
[Front] “Kumina”, 2009⁶
[Back] Destination: Colorado
38/100
He was known to be inexplicably inclement. Why? No one really knew. They’d just passed down that information from house to house, generation to generation, and the neighborhood took it as unwavering truth. That man,he was turbulent in temperament. A maelstrom of manners. The season was not the reason, for his demeanor grew no meaner come spring, summer, fall, or winter. This fuss was precisely the very motivation she needed though to start a new project. First, she’d invite him over for dinner.
39/100
[Front] “Huhuli”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: Washington
39/100
They crept close for comfort. The sky crackled once more. The blue that imprinted on their memories from that strike of lightning would forever remind them of the smell of ozone mingled with the scent of each other’s shuddering breaths as they held the other tightly inside the tent. It had been close. Flashing shadows of tall nearby pines painted the canvas they hoped would hold. How eerie and disquieting it was that all other sounds had surrendered to the yawp of the sudden storm.
40/100
[Front] “Kaakaopuu”, 2007⁶
[Back] Destination: North Carolina
40/100
I caught myself in disbelief
The first time that I learned
Not everything comes quite complete
It may need change or to be turned
Perhaps it needs a goading
A push, pressure, a tickle
Metamorphosis could be too much
Some things are undoubtedly fickle
But once we get the pluck and pull
The scoop, the heap, the time
What’s left is to just dress it up
So all comes out sublime
And then we’ll call it done, I heard
Instructions for something absurd
41/100
[Front] “Kortteli”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: California
41/100
Heavy heartbeat pulses in the temples
Sweat carves hot paths down the chest
Drawing out unspoken thoughts
The shaking seems uncontrollable
What is this sensation that has
No cessation?
Heat dissipates the moment it blooms
Making way for both chills and
The unsettling feeling that it won’t end
Not any time soon nor soon enough
What will be the necessary balm
That could bring out calm?
Looking for that magic - the only goal
To find a moment’s peace
42/100
[Front] “Karkuteillä”, 2008³
[Back] Destination: North Carolina
42/100
What do we mean when we say the air is crisp? Last I checked, you can't crunch a breath like a chip. You can't smooth out a breeze like it'd been wrinkled. There isn't a smokiness signaling that the sky burned. It must, instead, mean that there's a sharp joy of new adventures poking your cheeks, reminding you to smile at the seasonal change from humid to hued. There's opportunity to marvel at seeing your exhalations take shape as you stand, bundled in wool and other warming knit things.
43/100
[Front] “Hedelmäpeli”, 2009⁶
[Back] Destination: California
43/100
What do we eat when we’re not in love? I suppose it depends on the stage. When freshly wounded and feeling forsaken, we stuff ourselves from unhealthy plates: regrets and processed memories, truths spun out as wasted nutrients. The fruit is bitter when squeezed of the juice of life. But once we’ve drunk deeply from wells of reflection, we sit back, sated at having had the brilliant experience of having once taken a bite of a seasonal rarity, invited into a chance harvest that was unpredictable yet beautifully so.
44/100
[Front] “Räsymatto”, 2009³
[Back] Destination: Florida
44/100
Eyebrows knit in clear consternation
Expectant thumb against an eyetooth
An unexpected decision fallen on her lap
Mind toggling between two scenarios
One guaranteed misery with joy
The other held untold outcomes
The former known to be a steady eddy
The latter, a worrying whirlpool
I want to reach out and help her choose
But I know I’d only sully the process
Her thoughts are her own and unsaid
Her reasoning pulled on this thread -
No previous promise of propriety
Either choice: fair play
45/100
[Front] “Sumatra”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: California
45/100
Eight cities ago, I thought I knew
What it all meant for us that day
Seven nights ahead, we’ll discover
Six reasons to fend for ourselves
I still stand by my understanding that
Five for fighting is not a penalty
When the cause is justified
Four years it’s been since I realized
Three rights can still make a wrong
I’ve left you waiting without cause
Two lost people losing each other
Yet we’ll soon find that it only takes
One beast of an impending doom
To push aside carcasses of hurt
I can breathe now that you’re here
46/100
[Front] “Siirtolapuutarha”, 2009³
[Back] Destination: New York
46/100
They considered the following resignedly: If they could laze about in a daze, they would, but then several solid racks of guilt would be shuffled in. Because though becoming a vegetable sounded pleasant, even vegetables are called produce (what exactly do they produce at that point?). Because letting the brain go to mush made them think that even “mush” means “GO!” at the Iditarod. Doing nothing guaranteed that instead, they’d be doing something: wondering why they were doing nothing and if they could afford it. How does one win at rest these days?
47/100
[Front] “Juhannustaika”, 2007¹
[Back] Destination: Washington
47/100
She surreptitiously swayed
Sonorously, sensibly,
Sinuously, sensingly,
Seriously, sensually,
Sanguinely, sensitively
Her dance captivated a joy
Wrested from spiritless employ
The world held its breath
Was this antidote to death?
Strokes splayed endless emotion
Held close to save from corrosion
Inevitable, it gladly seems,
That we’re lost in her dreams
Made so whole that Life gleams
48/100
[Front] “Jussarö”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: California
48/100
“Does this diagram of alveoli make you think of alien egg sacs?” he asked, adding with a shy laugh, “Or is that just me?” She nearly hadn’t heard the question. He didn’t wait much longer than a heart’s flutter before he said too fast, “Or maybe I just read too much sci-fi. I don’t even know if you do. Sorry. I’m weird.” She glanced down at the page in their Biology textbook and back up only to now see just the side of his head. He was being self-deprecating again, but at least he said something today. That was progress.
49/100
[Front] “Joonas”, 1961²
[Back] Destination: Washington
49/100
She was spared from the aberration by sight but not the resounding wave of emotional energy that it pulsed as it writhed in duress. While others had been a combination of mesmerized and disgusted by the monstrosity they’d ultimately been the originators of, she’d had no such visceral reaction, having been exposed only to its unspoken and misunderstood purity by the tenuous empathy link it had extended. This was wrong. She had to find a way to shatter its shackles and soon.
50/100
[Front] “Kivet”, 1956²
[Back] Destination: Florida
50/100
Describe her to me, Z_
The one you say you love(d)
Tell me how she made you happy
And ignore the stars above
What twinkles did you find
In her step, her style, her eye?
If you were so grateful for her,
How could you let her slip by?
I care(d) for her too, you know
Could describe her blind
She had a bottomless heart
An unfathomably deep mind
I beg of you to tell me all her tales
Help me drown out my pitiful wails
I don’t know what to do anymore
51/100
[Front] “Ikkunaprinssi”, 2011⁶
[Back] Destination: California
51/100
“We need more of this in this world,” she said, gesturing broadly and emphatically in the room where we both stood on either side of the kitchen island, slurping out of plastic bowls just seconds ago.
“I’m not really sure people would want this rat’s nest anywhere. We don’t even want it,” I pointed out.
“No no no, I mean THIS moment. Having a divisive conversation and still having love for each other. Learning to see eye to eye.”
My laugh was slightly muffled as I wiped my mouth with a torn paper towel. Did she really think arguing about rice versus egg noodles counted as divisive?
52/100
[Front] “Vatruska”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: Washington
52/100
Arriving on the once-forgotten knoll
Bestowed a mark on her checklist,
Clearing her name forevermore
Deigned once as family tarnish,
Edifying the skeptical group
Found prior in favor of absconding,
Giving her annulled status as reason,
Hindered by bias and rumors,
Invalidating now their beliefs,
Jolted by her achieving this quest
Keeping her determined promises
Learned quickly by all in time
Mystifying even the most erudite
Nulled now by nothing of importance.
53/100
[Front] “Mansikkvauoret”, 1969²
[Back] Destination: Texas
53/100
It reminded her of molasses gone bad, the concoction that her son had mixed together from ingredients he’d found throughout the house. The treacly taste told her that he’d selected only the choicest options according to his four-year-old palate - basically everything high in sugar. The slight sourness must’ve been influenced by how often the cooking shows he loved said to balance flavors. She looked at him sitting across from her, expecting her verdict with a sticky spoon in hand.
“Uh, first off, what exactly is in this, hon?” she asked.
54/100
[Front] “Fandango”, 1962²
[Back] Destination: California
54/100
The memories are mercurial. He foolishly believes that they can be tidied up, that stippling them with rationale will ingratiate himself to the emotional residue he can’t quite seem to wash out despite the number of years past. There was once a period when the tackiness was diluted but it never disappeared. Each little spot remaining served as a reminder that feelings and memories are intertwined, especially when formed in such formative years. They’ll be with him for all time.
55/100
[Front] “Kivet”, 1956²
[Back] Destination: Washington
55/100
It’s over, this fantasy held fast
Once upon a time
The avoidance must have worked
And though some memories remain,
They hold no power now
At least, no real-time sway
The scenes have become fiction
Impropriety turned improbable
Nothing other stories cannot also tell
What a head-clearing discovery
A dangerous beast finally released
It couldn’t stay out of sight forever
And here you are today
Invoking only indifference, finally
56/100
[Front] “Högsåra”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: California
56/100
Imprinted on my memory
Your reaction
What expectations had you had?
Did I lead you to believe elsewise?
Was I responsible for this?
An innocent misunderstanding
I took no offense
And yet my curiosity was piqued
A different picture painted
Perhaps the anonymity was better
After all, we now have more
Questions - on both sides
You held me up to a different light
Though I pulsed with another,
Ones of my own making
57/100
[Front] “Ruusupuu”, 1957²
[Back] Destination: Texas
57/100
Show me gently how you feel
Tell them all what it means
These moments we cherish
Crashing life into dreams
Shape your thoughts into words
Convince others that it’s true
For how much longer do I have
To let you do all that you do?
Kick away any who oppose me
Strike them down every hour
It should not take much strength
Your dedication will be power
Envelope me wholly this very day
Forget what the rest might say
You need me
58/100
[Front] “Silkkikuikka”, 1961²
[Back] Destination: California
58/100
I wove my hands through the fist-knit blanket, letting its weight suspend my limbs as I dropped them on either side of the chair. It was heavy and meant to apply pressure on a body to instill calmness. Instead, I found it compounding on what burden was already harbored in my chest. While I could still breathe, the action was merely perfunctory; otherwise, the looming decision suffocated my every second. Could I just scrunch up here in the seat and wait it out? I won’t even peek.
59/100
[Front] “Kivet”, 1959²
[Back] Destination: Arizona
59/100
She scoffed at him for indulging in his art instead of focusing on the many other ventures she knew he had the potential for mastering. It’s not that his art wasn’t good. It certainly stirred something within people, but how could she take him seriously when it was all he wanted to spend time on? Survival required work and resources. Life was a strategic game. One cannot win checkers using emotions; you have to move in your lane, take from others what you can, and hopefully double up by the end. Right?
60/100
[Front] “Päärynä”, 1969²
[Back] Destination: California
60/100
It was a jewel of a thing, almost as if invoked from a grimoire in all its radiance. She could not look away from the brilliance before her, lest it either disappeared or had its wondrousness leeched out into the dullness surrounding it. How did she end up here so suddenly when no signs had been given? She finally dared to tear her eyes away and visually examine the room more thoroughly for she feared touching anything. The pedestal, stone; the walls, drab. Was this temptation a test? A trap?
61/100
[Front] “Satula”, 1960²
[Back] Destination: Washington
61/100
An amplified spark she is,
Boosted by self-made joy
Curiosity unchartable
Determinedly her whole self
Embodied by empathy
Flagrantly sensitive to concern
Granting serenity and calm
Hearteningly aware of what’s needed
Inexplicably an antidote for sorrow
Just by being her:
Kind, attentive, solicitor of smiles
Look at how she knows right away
Means of making the day grand
No other way to point this out -
One of her is all it takes
62/100
[Front] “Kumina”, 2009⁶
[Back] Destination: New Mexico
62/100
He knew nothing of what it took to make such sacrifices. For all his life, there had always been an easy way out, and without hesitation, he’d always defaulted to those. No one had to teach him this directly, but he’d seen how quickly struggles had disastrous ripple effects. Choosing the difficult options wound you up immediately, and eventually, your loved ones would be entangled. He wanted nothing to do with that. No more hurt should come to his family. And yet, he continued to envy those who emerged victorious from such trials.
63/100
[Front] “Lokki”, 1961²
[Back] Destination: Washington
63/100
It was all performance
Something about the spectacle
Spurred her onward
The motivation undulating
Yet the facade unwavering
The show must go on after all
Isn’t that what they said?
And then there was her keeper
Another layer of stimulus
So obscure, almost faceless
But powerful beyond belief
She sought to soak in limelight
To recharge through the gaze
Curtains up, dear one, it’s time
64/100
[Front] “Kaivo”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: California
64/100
That haunting shrill sound
Can anyone else hear it?
The source is one unfound
It pierces the night, I fear it
When asked, folks shake their heads
Why are they deaf to this?
My mind is torn to shreds
Grotesque and ominous
I squint my eyes and listen
It’s soul-shakingly clear
I am the cause of this sin
The shrieks are but veneer
Memento of my lingering guilt
The screams a prison that I built
65/100
[Front] “Ananas”, 1962²
[Back] Destination: Oregon
65/100
She shuffled through the stack of mail on the counter, looking for a love letter she’d been wanting to receive for years now, but it was only rubbish and bills. Though the rift was entirely his fault, for some time after, he’d send platonic missives to keep her updated on his extensive family. They’d been close, and the familiarity of their antics in writing kept her sane. She’d read between the lines and knew he still cared, but now the memories felt washed out in sepia. Through all that had passed, no apology had been delivered.
66/100
[Front] “Unikko”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: Arizona
66/100
You use his name frequently
As if to remind yourself
That he exists
It’s not just you and I
Yet there’s something, S-
A sneer in your voice
Resigned tone of obligation
I can’t help but think
Your shield is breaking down
I’ve done nothing, mind you
Don’t know what story you have
But the hours run long
We’ve talked until dawn’s light
Who am I to you, S-?
67/100
[Front] “Ostjakki”, 1983⁵
[Back] Destination: Washington
67/100
It’s a game I play every time,
On top of the games we play
Why? No reason nor rhyme
Just a challenge for me to slay
How can I succeed to entice,
When indifferent to actual action
Tease out feelings of vice
That will never see satisfaction
One’s fallen now in my crosshair
Doesn’t matter my true feeling
I’ll feint and seem unaware
While setting that one reeling
No cause really to compete
Yet compelled I am to complete
68/100
[Front] “Melooni”, 1963²
[Back] Destination: Maryland
68/100
She watched him approach the crumbling stucco wall that seemed to only be held together by stale memories and vibrant bougainvillea that had filled the cracks with tenacious roots. He stuck out clumsy fingers and ran them curiously along the texture. She closed her eyes for a breath, willing his future self to remember this moment. The time when 7-year-old him first encountered their family’s past abroad. When she reopened her eyes, a grin broke across her face. He was stuffing fallen petals into his shirt pocket.
69/100
[Front] “Kuuma”, 1978⁵
[Back] Destination: California
69/100
“Were you ever mine?” he wondered as she climbed up the tree with an enthusiasm he wished he could bottle. Forget the flimsy sundress and lack of proper footwear; she saw a beautiful bough and needed to get to it. When she finally cozied up in the crook she wanted and looked down, it was a familiar sight - her eyes like the wild but her brow serene, an indescribable glow around her, their plans upended by whim. He never knew how long she’d be anywhere but treasured the lessons in patience.
70/100
[Front] “Tuuli”, 1971²
[Back] Destination: Washington
70/100
Refuse to be refuse
The ancients would not want this
Disenchanted as we may be
The border between
Complacency and humanity
Gossamer-thin
We can learn from the treetops
The trunks of withstood time
Struggle is an inevitable necessity
But a fight nonetheless
Your power cannot be tossed
By any other than you
So refuse to be refused
The future would not want this
71/100
[Front] “Karkuteillä”, 2008³
[Back] Destination: California
71/100
Spin up a world for me, glamor and gold. Arabesque tapestries lining all of the walls. Tell me a tale that will outshine the days and outlast the nights. I’m ready to sink into flourishes and luxurious details of faraway and fantastical revels. There should be mystical creatures, majestic landscapes, complex heroes, sumptuous feasts, and quests of self-realization. Share with me some place other than here, so that I may guzzle possibilities and sup on dreams. I don’t know how to fabricate those myself.
72/100
[Front] “Maalaisruusu”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: Washington
72/100
She’s harmonizing with sirens
They’re so often blaring
Clamor so visceral
She’s striving to inject elation
A voice in vibrato
Steady steady steady
She’s lilting the melody to disrupt
Discordant caterwauling
Accusations already in the air
She’s singing a preemptive dirge
Grief is expectedly inevitable
Lurid havoc imminent
She’s disassociating daily
Operatic laments the only balm
73/100
[Front] “Siamilaissydämet”, 1965²
[Back] Destination: Texas
73/100
The sensation of cashmere
Lingering tingle of a buttermint
Posts adorned with dim fairy lights
Wafting wisps of honeysuckle
A gently trilling piano
Divining returning to the moment
Sweeping hands over corduroy
The tongue tap of hot cinnamon
Fingerprints left on frost
Heady inhale of aged oak
Hearing a whispered “bellisima”
Intuiting tremulous transience
Senses imprint on their memories
Though they no longer make sense
74/100
[Front] “Kuiskaaja”, 2006³
[Back] Destination: Washington
74/100
He stared at the rained-on pavement, willing himself to focus on the infinitesimally boring details of concrete and litter and suppress the rising urge to cavort and shout in the middle of an unknown neighborhood. The effort wasn’t enough. A nearly-restrained, joyous wobble overtook his motions, and he found himself dancing next to the brownstone building as if in a personal discotheque. Loud brassy trumpets sounded in his mind. His fingers were flying with emotion. Getting that phone call made the past few years all worth it.
75/100
[Front] “Kuja”, 1975⁵
[Back] Destination: New York
75/100
Swimming on the carpet is ambitious. Or perhaps not. The experience is open to interpretation after all, and though it’s unclear that she’ll get where she wants to go, what do we know? Maybe it’s not a physical where but an imaginative one. Maybe she’s already arrived and is just splish-splashing through adventure. Maybe it’s just what folks in her kingdom do, along with skipping up walls. Could the haze of being grown up be suffocating a more glorious freedom of mind? Go swim with her today. Don’t forget to bring your floaties.
76/100
[Front] “Ryijy”, 2011³
[Back] Destination: Washington
76/100
Intimate candlelight murmurs
They surround us threateningly
Your silence has a weight
Those other conversations light
I try to sort the noise
All around us are sighs of care
Yet you sit, you sit, you sit
I shift in my seat, hapless
This is a place of romance,
I protest to stone
Look at how we’re all dressed
Have we been performing trust?
I’m muted now by the irony
Our roles were reversed once before
77/100
[Front] “Unikko”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: Minnesota
77/100
That infernal flame that burned through her and ignited those in her presence with euphoria, I’ll never understand. She was like a phoenix rising from any possible situation that would have decimated the soul of even the strongest person, but her fires had never been reduced to ashes. Ever. They’d only blazed more so in the face of challenge, intoxicating us with confidence that we could not be snuffed out either. It was a lovely heat we rushed toward willingly, embracing us in a hopeful high.
78/100
[Front] “Rantapuisto”, 2005⁵
[Back] Destination: California
78/100
It winked at her, that green Online status dot. At least, she thought it did. Yet the name remained gray. Status: Offline. She’d rushed home to see if more had been said, but the chat window remained frustratingly as it was the night before. What a heart attack of a statement to have left her with without an explanation. The conversation had ended predictably abruptly, as they did every time, but unlike the natural drifting off of the past, here was a confession she didn’t know how to handle.
79/100
[Front] “Bo Boo”, 1975⁴
[Back] Destination: New York
79/100
A nook, the crook,
Hiding just so
He was at once mistook
To be a new beau
A welcome and wave
Encouraged to stay
Expected to behave
In front of parents that day
They waited for their daughter
Whom they’d planned to surprise
No forewarning to the bother
She entered with wide eyes
“Who’s that over there?” she started to query
As he jumped out the window in a hurry
80/100
[Front] “Jussarö”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: Washington
80/100
It was haunting her, how much more smudged the memories were becoming over time. The edges of each moment she wanted to remember would blur, smear, spread everything into incomprehensibility, and she was powerless to stop it. There was wateriness to faces now. It was downright terrifying. Whenever she was able to hold a memory still, people were always faceless. The only thing that seemed to help was to paint them. Eventually the colors would come together and features formed. She earned a day with that.
81/100
[Front] “Lumimarja”, 2004⁶
[Back] Destination: California
81/100
Is there a pop filter you can place over my chest? So that when you shout at me, all the buh-buh-buts and the puh-puh-puhleases that empty your mouth don’t distract my tired heart from my quickly intensifying and accelerating wub-wub-wubs. Your weightless excuses and insincere apologies aren’t the serenades you think they are. Those florid ballads of woe are pitiable. I need the pop filter to protect myself from the useless noises you make, so I can listen to my own soulsong and finally leave.
82/100
[Front] “Siirtolapuutarha”, 2009³
[Back] Destination: Colorado
82/100
Stay where you are
You’ll be okay, he feigned
They looked about them
Unsure exactly the terrain
River rushing fast past
(It was low though)
The algae-stippled rocks
Unknown undertow
He’d made the jump easily
Didn’t pause for readiness
He crossed back carefully
Arms out for steadiness
They shut their eyes tight
Leapt into his embracing might
83/100
[Front] “Kulkue”, 2007³
[Back] Destination: North Carolina
83/100
“Irrevocable!” he declared suddenly, startling the constituents nearest to him. The scroll was rolled up and put away so quickly that even those standing in front of him almost didn’t believe it had existed, despite seeing that he had just been grasping it tightly and reading with a progressively more furrowed brow. His word had always been taken as decree so with that single utterance, the judgment had been made, the entire village as witness. The cobbler burst into tears. How could he have given up all left-shoe-making on a horse bet?
84/100
[Front] “Kortteli”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: Washington
84/100
Facets are not weaponry
Rather, components of a whole
Scintillating, iridescent, refractive
Like panes of colored glass
Varying in hues and hubris
Revealing secrets to those privy
Those willing to look closer
Do the work to understand
Breakthroughs without breaking
Aspects suspended as if in aspic
Perplexingly simple in truth
Necessary to complete the story
Creativity an act of survival
Connection an act of revival
85/100
[Front] “Hedelmäpeli”, 2009⁶
[Back] Destination: California
85/100
Shatter me now, P_
Break me into jagged pieces
Give me something to pick up
Propose I mend myself anew
Cast me out of your hold, L_
Seek for me an infuriating purpose
Task me with amnesia
Suggest a different way of living
Loosen the vise we tightened, S_
Untie any inclinations to an us
Disappear the vestiges of we
Grant me a last kindness please
I must believe this is irreparable
I have to trust the rest isn’t
86/100
[Front] “Päiväntasaaja”, 2003⁶
[Back] Destination: North Carolina
86/100
She claimed to be bewitched. Not in a charming and amusing sense but a truthfully witchcraft-y way that compelled her to suddenly have powerful, amorous feelings about a particular stranger she’d recently met. It could only have come about supernaturally. How else could she explain the obsession that took over every waking thought? Every bite of food made her wonder what sharing a meal would be like. Every step she took conjured a longing to hold their hand. She was helplessly livid. No one believed in magic there.
87/100
[Front] “Seireeni”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: New York
87/100
I recognized her by the way that she wrote, the words she used, the turns of phrases she spun out from her mind through her fingers into convoluted twisted tales. The voice was distinctively hers. The tone was blatantly a reflection of how she spoke. Though the name hastily applied to the piece was not the formation of letters I associated with the spelling of her own, I immediately identified the style that I’d been so accustomed to seeing before. Was it a pseudonym or had her work been pilfered?
88/100
[Front] “Kaakaopuu”, 2007⁶
[Back] Destination: California
88/100
“Confound it!” He tossed the mass of tangled rope away from him that had somehow accumulated infinite Gordian knots in the short time since they’d last gone out. Or maybe his memory was playing tricks bv again. How long had it actually been? Where was she now? He started slapping the side of his head, hoping to rid himself of his frustration by turning the mental anguish into something more visceral. The haphazardly-thrown coil on the warped wooden floor watched in silence.
89/100
[Front] “Sumatra”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: Colorado
89/100
Swiftly they moved
No time to be unsure
Grasses betraying nothing
But whispers
She sought them out
The sumptuous things
Each a morsel of delight
Only shadowed by praise
Perhaps the softness of linen too
Focus focus focus
They were completely still now
Waiting to be sniffed out and crunched
If only Guardian would stop giggling
Treat Hunt was serious business
90/100
[Front] “Puutarhakutsut”, 1989⁵
[Back] Destination: Washington
90/100
Incompatible, they stated
Pointing out baseless flaws
Aesthetics underrated
Yet the fear still gnaws
Could different be wrong?
Fitting in befitted youth
Safety as one of a throng
Despite knowing truth:
For who are you now,
If not yourself alone?
Stand out, you say, how?
This culture’s been monotone
Relearn at our own peril
Lest we render life sterile
91/100
[Front] “Purnukka”, 2006⁶
[Back] Destination: Texas
91/100
Envious wide-eyed wonder
That’s how she sees the world
Grasping hands and tottering feet
Language forming unencumbered
It’s a shame all these moments
Cannot be bottled and stored
Collected like prized marbles
Jarred for preservation
To open in case of emergency
Yet that’s not what they’re here for
These discoveries are now
Her delight is in the today
Cherish the seconds, the minutes,
The hours, the always-there heydays
92/100
[Front] “Unikko”, 1964²
[Back] Destination: Washington
92/100
Despite that deep rumbling laughs often represented arrogance and villainy in fiction, his always provided her with a comfort she could never find adequate words for. It was a reverberating warmth that affectionately arrested her. It was a reliable bastion of safety she could always navigate toward. It was never meant specifically for her though. No, he gave it freely in the same generous spirit that he gave his care for the greater good of the community, and she secretly loved him for it.
93/100
[Front] “Ikkunaprinssi”, 2011⁶
[Back] Destination: Arizona
93/100
There lies an assortment
A menagerie so to speak
Definition clandestine
Collection of differences
Tied together by a sentiment
Infused throughout all
Unwaveringly steadfast
A soft care, an aware grace
Sorted, selected, gathered
Understanding unspoken
Deep visibility guaranteed
Permission to be extended
The keystone a marvel
The whole an endearing motley
94/100
[Front] “Puu Kuutamossa”, 1979²
[Back] Destination: Washington
94/100
The sizzle of scallions turned her head toward the kitchen, and then, without surprise, the piquant aroma of a ginger-garlic-shallot combination filled the room. She breathed in deeply just as unintended tears began to wet her eyes and a heavy sob nearly escaped her mouth. She held it fiercely in her chest for the moment, unwilling to let loose just how much she missed being cared for. By the stove, her visiting mother, too, refused to confess how she felt, so she continued to cook and cook and cook without a word.
95/100
[Front] “Räsymatto”, 2009³
[Back] Destination: California
95/100
In broad strokes, the concept was “entirely comprehensible,” they said. They only demanded more from her because, as they’d previously stated, she had extraordinary potential. The other students were indistinguishable from each other for the most part. Not that she saw it that way. The accolades felt unfounded. Remarks seemed to undulate by without leaving behind any residue of pride in herself. Perhaps because what they saw as natural talent, she suffered as relentless and unforgiving effort.
96/100
[Front] “Juhannustaika”, 2007¹
[Back] Destination: Connecticut
96/100
If reverie could be captured in a capsule, dispensed and prescribed after careful diagnosis, rationalized into viral well-being trends, should it? She hoped that this had been a question the founders had debated ad nauseam before committing to the invention that eventually landed her this cushy job. Yet she didn’t have confidence that the conversation had happened. Had it, they might have foreseen the turn toward societal breakdown from stupor and lethargy instead of a new creative renaissance.
97/100
[Front] “Mökki”, 2006¹
[Back] Destination: California
97/100
Striving for a personal epic
Landing on just a mere epoch
And yet, and yet, it’s still a start
A journey with wisdom to impart
Much of what resides presides
Rules by which all abide
There is still light before the dark
Lanes upon which to embark
The goal is not all the land
The goal is exploring every strand
Some end, some begin
Some are not correctly when
Some comprise unknown material
Follow the one most ethereal
98/100
[Front] “Vatruska”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: North Carolina
98/100
It was said in not so many words
No words, actually, were let
The crowd tittered briefly
Pretended politely to forget
Insult still lingering in the air
His expression still flouncing
Her back already to him
The distaste, quite pronouncing
He gently called her name
Reached out a tentative hand
The damage had been done
Didn’t return at his command
Why did he give his dog a lime?
She’d never forgive him this time
99/100
[Front] “Paratiisi”, 1996⁵
[Back] Destination: Florida
99/100
With a cry of “She’s a genius!,” they grabbed her arm and pulled her toward a guest they wanted her to meet. It was a small gathering, so the exclamation was heard by everyone and several heads turned to follow her plight. She demurred quietly that everyone is a genius in their own way, but it didn’t deter the host from parading her from person to person with increasingly exaggerated introductions and not so subtle hints that they too were special because they knew her. What had this friendship become?
100/100
[Front] “Huhuli”, 2012¹
[Back] Destination: Washington
100/100
The sheen of his coat gleamed handsomely, and they stood awestruck once more, regarding the lustrous body before them, his elusive nature, and the honor they felt to be in his favor. There was a tenuous trust not granted to everyone, and here they were, in possession of it. He stared deeply back. A wild thing, truly. Yet one that would not be opposed to the soft life. This was what they could give him as guardians, and in return, he gave them himself and whatever attention he was willing to dole out.
¹ Artist: Aino-Maija Metsola; ² Artist: Maija Isola; ³ Artist: Maija Louekari; ⁴ Artist: Katsuji Wakisaka; ⁵ Artist: Fujiwo Ishimoto; ⁶ Artist: Erja Hirvi