Red Dye 40

Kelsey Wiles

I was the weird girl at the birthday party
who could not scrape sweet excess away. Not
vanilla crumbs or globs of thick frosting
disguised as piped red roses. I dug it all up
with a plastic spoon and a red dye smile.

Back in the day, my girls and I would walk
downtown to the half-sized Hannaford to ogle
at the pastry aisle. We would skip jazz band
and fish our pockets for quarters—enough
to pick out and purchase a miniature cake.

Recently, I told these stories to my lover
in the full-size Hannaford near his place,
passing an identical cake, tucked away
in the display. How silly that we three girls,
meant to be playing Benny Goodman at school,

were licking frosting off of sporks at noon.
Even sillier, Hannaford was still selling those
same colorful cakes. He giggled, too. Then looked
at my body like I was Red 40 poison, saying
he had a joke that he could, but would not, make.

Kelsey Wiles is a poet and teacher working towards her MFA in poetry at the University of New Hampshire where she also teaches Introduction to Poetry for undergraduate students. Additionally, Kelsey serves as the managing editor of Barnstorm Literary Journal, which runs out of the graduate school. Beyond writing and teaching, Kelsey is a dancer who takes classes, teaches classes, and performs in various styles across the New England seacoast. 

Art: Nia Hughes (she/her) is an oil painter currently pursuing her BFA in Studio Art at Oregon State University. Her practice centers on human connection, exploring how emotions and memories can serve as points of empathy; moments in life that ache with nostalgia and slip just out of reach. Working in semi-realistic portraiture, she captures these fleeting feelings through facial expressions, color, and quiet storytelling that is intimate and personal.

Nia is part of the Scholar Cohort for the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts and the recipient of the Dr. Helen E. Plinkiewisch Art Scholarship for the 2024–2026 academic years. Her work was also recently featured in the Personal Mythology exhibition at the LaSells Stewart Center during Summer 2025. Nia believes art can reach the parts of ourselves we neglect or shut away, allowing us to feel seen in ways words often can’t. Through her work, she hopes to create moments of reflection, warmth, and shared understanding.