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Cover Artist Alaina Hammond

is a poet, playwright, fiction writer, and visual artist. Her poems, short stories, paintings, drawings and photographs have been published both online and in print. Publications include Nomad’s Choir Poetry Journal, The Word’s Faire, Littoral Magazine, Spinozablue, Third Wednesday Magazine, [Alternate Route], Paddler Press, Verse-Virtual, Macrame Literary Journal, Route 7 Review, Sublunary Review, Quail Bell Magazine, Assignment Literary Magazine, Superpresent, Jelly Squid, redrosethorns, Flash Frog, Clockwise Cat, Ranger Magazine, Troublemaker Firestarter, Fowl Feathered Review, The Ravens Perch, and 10 By 10 Flash.  @alainaheidelberger on Instagram.

Alaina's Artist Statement

I met Nicole Jenkins in 1987. We were six years old.  For decades, we bonded over our shared love of art. In addition to canvass, Nicole painted on rocks. She mailed me a handmade rock taco in June 2020, made especially for me. 

 

A month later I was pregnant. I told Nicole before I told my parents. 

 

In September 2020, I painted “The Ladybug.” My baby was precisely that size, according to my pregnancy tracking app. I later considered it the first portrait of my son. Of course I showed it to Nicole, before the paint was fully dry.

 

Nicole collected an ocean’s worth of sea glass, and nurtured a rainforest worth of plants. 

 

Nicole raised her lovely daughter Marley, who got her mother’s kindness and strength. Nicole adored her fiancé Tobias as much as he loved her. He was her primary caretaker at the end stage of her illness. 

 

After months of home hospice, Nicole died in her bed on February 16, 2025, with her beloved Tobias at her side. She left behind a legacy of flora, fauna, and minerals. 

 

The next day, February 17, a ladybug landed on my finger. I didn’t notice until we were both indoors. I said “hi, Nicole” and released her into the plants that outside my apartment, that constitute nature’s garden.

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