BrainScramble Magazine. The world through our eyes. Toronto & Berkeley. Latest BSToronto i17: MEND, out now.
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Infinite Universe Theory
I see the same barn in every Southern Ontario field
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The Fifty Foot Oak in My Backyard
This morning, the tree in my backyard fell over, crushing my neighbour’s garage and blocking our laneway.
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love and other run-on sentences
everything will change and then it will end,
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Disaster Fantasy, or 13 Ways to Survive an Earthquake
I dream of disaster in the back of my mind.
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Cutting Ties
photography by andrew anthonio on the invisible string theory…
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Fortune or Fortunes?
How do you hold on to your idea of luck when you see others get it handed to them?
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Our Holy Derby
By Cooper DaeberickEdited by Alloe Mak God, the all knowing, wanted to settle a betBut unfortunately, my fortune was scantHe said sinners still win, letting me in on the joke:Karma was always a hoax Well then, I should be fineIf the stakes are high,My morals are low.To the races with jockeys and beasts! Lo and…
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Still My Mother’s Daughter
“You want me to try? I can’t try for something I don’t believe in. It is this kind of Western world that has ruined you. You are so pretty, baobei, smart, too. You’re just sick. If I raised you in China, this wouldn’t have happened to you,”
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“Isn’t it Messed Up How I’m Just Dying to be Him?”
One studded belt and several low slung pairs of jeans later, I still owe the man I am today to a handful of guys in rock bands.
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nursery rhyme (prayer to the virgin mary)
if my mama doesn’t love me, will i still get into heaven?will you touch me on the cheek, will you say that i’m forgiven?i won’t be wicked anymore; i’ll go to church, i’ll wear a dress—i don’t know what i wanted, but i know it wasn’t this.if i swear i’ll never kiss a girl again,…
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Ainsley and her permanent spring
Feet cold, pressed on the linoleum floor. She feels it all around her, But not in her. Not yet.
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Bosie
I picture this: two hands meet in the darkness, and for a moment, real love existed like no other had before.
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BANANA
I am an outsider to my own culture. I am a banana.
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و أستشهد السلام في وطن السلام
Hospitals, churches, schools, and mosques, all in ruins. There is no sanctuary in the holy land.
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Re-Secularizing Les Misérables
Special thanks to Taylor Lipson—a conversation with whom inspired this piece.
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To Speak
“For someone so quiet, you seem to have a lot to say.”
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The Tower of Babel
The downfall of my last relationship followed a similar pattern.
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Don’t F*** With Our Speech
Dear university administrations in Toronto and beyond: