Paige Hannan is a Shinnecock Native from humid and green Long Island. They are a creative writer in the undergrad program at IAIA. Their pieces tend to focus on themes of romance, survival, and adventure. Previously published in earlier anthologies, their work returns to the latest publication under “the things we carry” with the two poetry pieces “11:17” and “Gardens Ghosts and Gods oh my” and their latest fiction work “Closure at the Blue Cat”. In these pieces the readers can find that the speakers and characters are carrying things like trauma, fear, and love, and how it affects them.