Author Archives: tributaryjournal

The Science of Never Letting Go Of You by Hannah Lee Defrates

Characters: Poppy- (female-presenting, 20’s) perfectionist; legal guardian of her sister Violet and their friend, Chrys Willow- (female-presenting, 20’s) young at heart, but not without her trauma; runs a daycare while being the legal guardian of her teenage brother, Daff Time: Around 3:00-ish on a weekday in a year undefined. Location: The living room of Poppy’sContinue reading “The Science of Never Letting Go Of You by Hannah Lee Defrates”

Twelve, Thirteen by Ella Rossman

January 3rd, 2016 was the last day of Christmas break, so I thought it in rather poor taste that anyone would make a joke about Aidan Fowler dying. The text I had received from my good friend Kelly was a screenshot of Facebook messages saying “RIP Aidan” with no other context. What a terrible thingContinue reading “Twelve, Thirteen by Ella Rossman”

7:30pm by Aiden Brown

I wasted a lot of my time wishing for someone to spend my favorite time with. Pink painted skies, made for lazy kissing as the sun fades, promoted the soul myth. Two souls: without one mind interwoven. There was nothing but gritty bodies, bare. The reality of gentle lovin’ cascaded into my lungs and weptContinue reading “7:30pm by Aiden Brown”

The Wonders in the Shadows

J. R. Valdez The sky was still a bit gray from the drizzling rain that stained the car windows with the sky’s tears, racing each other down the glass as they collected and dried at the bottom. My surroundings were dreary and provided me no joy. Why would there be a need for such weather?Continue reading “The Wonders in the Shadows”

Aluminum

Daniel Cohen Tap, tap, tap, comes from the ceiling. A thick cloud of dust falls into the room. Dust as ancient as angels. Tap, tap. Footsteps are the heartbeat of my existence down here. There’s footsteps with broken lamps. Footsteps that need Old Village “Tea Caddy Green” paint that we just ran out of. FootstepsContinue reading “Aluminum”

Allow Me to be a Narcissist for a Moment.

Veronica Fahn To take in my looks and my roots.My bent nose and thin brows.My frizzy hair and small elf ears. My roots have trees back in Mexico I haven’tstudied enough— my European roots invadedthe soil in my brain long ago and kept on growing. I don’t speak Spanish. I took Italian in high school.IContinue reading “Allow Me to be a Narcissist for a Moment.”

The Withdrawal Symposium

Elizabeth Albright At first, it starts soft, just an endless murmur of voices that blend into the white noise belched out by the old box fan, trailing dust worms and blowing the peppermint remnants of Bengay over the room. It grows, the shapeless din now a party. Glasses clink together and snip bits of conversationContinue reading “The Withdrawal Symposium”

A Coronation in my Room

By Olivia Hagios She remembered being helpless,Unable to move a toy soldierOn the playing boardOf the nightmares which claimed her They twisted her vision of reality,Morphing the world she drew—It seemed as soon as a battle was won,The horses charged again One night the girl decided To etch a crown into her skin, A crownContinue reading “A Coronation in my Room”

The First National Edition of The Tributary

We welcome you to the first ever national edition of The Tributary. Authors and poets from all over the country allowed us to weave together their works into an iridescent tapestry. It is one that we here at The Tributary are proud to present to you. From the forests of Vermont to the Valleys ofContinue reading “The First National Edition of The Tributary”

Tributary 2022

It is finally here! Submissions like rain mixed into a puddle, dripped into a stream, formed this year’s issue of Lycoming College’s Tributary. Rather than parse that expansive literary-sky, find your favorite (or soon-to-be-favorites) here in our collection of works. We thank you for your patronage and urge you to support our journal and futureContinue reading “Tributary 2022”