Vermillion Trio is an all female trio playing experimental and improvised music, based in Sydney. Merging elements of free jazz, multi-metric rhythmic pieces, electronic elements and punk sounds, Vermillion Trio have been making waves with interactive acoustic performances in venues across Sydney. To combat the performance restrictions imposed by lockdowns, the group performed an acoustic “virtual concert” with Sydney Sessions. The trio is currently working on an EP collection, using digital elements and synth, saxophone, oboe, piano, double bass and electric bass.

How to Open During a Pandemic

          after Rachelle Cruz

I opened the milk with the expired date.

I opened the date and found the month gone.

I opened the month and wasted the spring.

I sprang for good bourbon and lotion and weed.

I weeded the garden, cut my hand on a thorn.

I cut up the pineapple and then saw the mold.

I molded my body into the shape of the couch.

I opened the couch and drank too much wine.

I woke up and worried at two, three, and four.

I cried when the radio played John Prine.

I posted Prine’s picture on my Facebook page.

I paged through faces of poets online.

I lined up my mat for down dog and plank.

I blanked when I sat down, at the table, to write

I tabled my novel, listed groceries by hand.

I handed the money to man in a mask.

I masked my despair by staring at screens.

I screened my choices. I bought every book.

I rebooked massages and concerts and plays.

I played with the cat. I answered friend’s calls.

I called my dad’s phone just to hear my mom’s voice.

by Mary Camarillo

Camarillo’s stories and poems have been published in magazines such as
The Bookends Review, Lunch Ticket, The Second Corona Book of Horror Stories and The Ear.
She is based in Huntington Beach, California.