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Gianna is a junior studying English at Endicott College. She is involved on campus as the Editor-in-Chief of the Literary Arts Magazine as well as the News Editor for Endicott’s newspaper. She is from Richmond, Rhode Island, a small town by the coast. Being one of five, Gianna grew up in a warm and happy home that has been difficult to be separated from. But Gianna believes you can have roots and wings. Her love for reading and writing has evolved into a passion that she hopes to maintain with a career in book publishing. She is grateful for her family at home and at school for their unwavering support.

Gianna Tretton

Slim Pickings

after The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams

Scrambling like mad so
you get someone. Much
of your luck depends
on the array of flowers left upon
your slice of the earth. This time could be perfect, could be a
lie, or a big, red
sign. Stop– don’t wheel
your heart in a broken barrow
towards a pair of glazed
eyes, flickering with
a dying spark. The rain
will fall and wash him away. That water
will help you see growth, too. Stand tall beside
the other flowers, the
whole lot of you losing petals that were once white.
Scrambling for those slim pickings, just like starved chickens.

— Gianna Tretton