Nocturne

A photo of a yellow crescent moon in a black night sky.

December 6

Nocturne: Editor's Note

During some of the shortest days of the year, most of us have no choice but to become civil with the night.

Fiona Sjaus with Illustrations by Nousnou Iwasaki

A person looks outside at night from a window with a neutral expression in a room lit with a yellow hue.

December 6

Window watching

One of the things I love about the view is the building across the street.

Olivia Vos with Photos by Saumya Kamra, Design by Sam Low

A yellow crescent moon over a fur tree forest at dusk.

December 6

Jupiter

i am climbing and it is dark

Julian Coyle Forst with Photos by Saumya Kamra

A person walking down an empty pathway outside at night with their back facing the camera and a maple tree in the forefront. Illustrated smoke encircles the frame of the photo.

December 6

The burning house

Our senses peak in the dark. Any breath, any sound, any aberration, are grounds for fear and suspicion.

Aiman Fatira with Photos by Saumya Kamra, Illustrations by Emilija Vītols Harrison

A photo taken from the sidewalk of an apartment complex at night with the lights on inside. A silhouette stands from a balcony in the top left room.

December 6

How lonesome the night

One is the loneliest number.

Anjalica Solomon with Photos by Saumya Kamra, Illustrations by Emilija Vītols Harrison

A person with long black hair wearing a beige trench coat faces away from the camera and holds a red and yellow apple in their right hand over a container of apples in a dimly lit grocery store.

December 6

For a long time, I went to bed early

“For a long time, I went to bed early,” begins the first page of Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time), written in exquisitely-formed cursive by an unknown reader, whose second-hand folio I found for two dollars at a used book sale.

Jared Ongking with Photos by Colette Kimura

December 6

On insomnia, caused by medication

No one rises at 5 a.m. without a groan-worthy reason. Here’s mine: prednisone makes me unable to fucking sleep.

Michelle Huang with Illustrations by Emilija Vītols Harrison and Srinithi Jeyakumar

A photo of the corner window of an apartment on the top floor of a building captured from the street. The curtains are drawn and the room is lit dimly with a yellow hue inside.

December 6

I used to hate the birds

I spent years associating the sunrise birdsong to my basic failure to uphold a bedtime.

Mairéad Brennan with Photos by Saumya Kamra

a pile of sealed cardboard boxes pushed to the corner of an empty room at night with a window at the adjacent wall and a starry dark blue night outside.

December 6

Bed bugs

Nothing is fully familiar. Even the rooms I rest in feel somewhat foreign.

Annaliese Gumboc with Illustrations by Adriel Yusgiantoro

A quiet yellow cobblestoned street at night lined with blue townhomes with yellow windows. To the right is a small café patio with some tables. Overhead is an abstract navy blue sky with white and yellow stars painted in the style of Van Gogh's starry night.

December 6

While the city sleeps

That evening, Rotterdam held its breath for us.

Carla Stanciu with Illustrations by Ayla Cilliers

An illustration of a dimly lit hallway with wooden floors and a yellow door at the end of it. A wooden console table sits to the right with books on its shelf and a potted plant on its surface. Abstract blue and red paintings line the walls.

December 6

Night terror

I am still home but it feels far from it. The space isn’t yet devoid of voices but it feels so empty.

Sophie Voysey with Illustrations by Ayla Cilliers

An illustration of a person sleeping on their side in a bed facing away from a window where the sun is rising outside while it is still dark and blue in the room.

December 6

Slipping through my fingers all the time

For many, the night is a time of escape and peace, but for the majority of my life, it’s been one of my worst enemies.

Aisha Chaudhry with Illustrations by Abbie Lee

A panoramic photo taken at night on the top of a hill capturing downtown Vancouver lit up in the distance and some power lines and a bus driving in motion past the perpendicular street in the forefront.

December 6

Close to home

I wonder if it feels so good to watch strangers because they’re just postcards to me — maybe I simply see in them what I would see in myself if I ever turned toward my own reflection in the window.

Friederike Baack with Photos by Colette Kimura

A sky at night consisting of navy blue swirls and dim yellow stars in the style of Van Gogh's starry night.

December 6

You were gorgeous only yesterday

I only get vulnerable halfway through the night

Fiona Sjaus with Illustrations by Emilija Vītols Harrison

An illustration of a person sitting on the edge of a wooden dock facing a body of water at night next to a lit street lamp to their right. The sky is drawn in the style of Van Gogh's Starry Night.

December 6

Low tide

At night, stripped of everything but its salty residue in the air, the sea looks different.

Joyce Park with Illustrations by Emilija Vītols Harrison

Nocturne

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