Delta
Tenderness, time travel, temporal drift
A threshold between two worlds, the Delta holds what was, what could be, and what never came to pass. This portal with glitching seams is where East and West meet—where time and tenderness float, unmoored and magnetic. Part memory, part myth-making, this is a tale that drifts with time itself.
East
The Delta’s darling. Made of light and long afternoons.
West
On paper, a son. Creased in truth and strength beyond his own.
Alchemy
Though worlds apart, with reverence and remembrance, they forge a bond across time and space.
Nine acres
In heavy sun, sweat, and soil, they crafted new lives from borrowed tools and inherited tenacity.
Legacy and lore
Rooted like willows along the levee, they moved in quiet rhythm. Through fire, flood, and forsakenness, they endured. And though the Delta now whispers no trace of their names, East and West remain—welcoming the curious to wander openly between history and the heart.
This editorial project, while a work of stylistic expression and fiction, also highlights the layered histories of Isleton, Locke, and the Chinese and Asian American legacies embedded in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta.