Jess Simms
On Becoming an Albatross
You were not born to be a burden. When you soar the wind is freedom, weightless over endless water. It is only when on land that you are heavy, a vessel filled by others’ guilt, your wings slacked by their violence. They don’t care to hear of the distant places you have seen, or the blissful monotony of a becalmed sea, your long hours circling in solitude. That you knew nothing of regret until they bound you as their metaphor.
Jess Simms is a co-founder of Scribble House and the managing editor of After Happy Hour Review. They are the author of Cryptid Bits (Last-Picked Books, 2024) and have published stories and essays in Mythaxis, Orca, SLAB, Atlas Obscura, Rinky Dink Press, and elsewhere. Find them online at https://jesssimms.com.