https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/decks-drafts-1 daily 0.75 2026-03-20 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/decks-drafts-1/blog-post-title-one-wdar5-hp986 monthly 0.5 2026-03-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/d2dd4a85-7c1a-4328-9220-91368005cd30/664DC0FB-F1EE-49CC-B65F-BD9C2F717563.png Decks & Drafts - Welcome to Decks & Drafts - Welcome! Join Decks & Drafts in downtown Indianapolis every first Friday for a weekly blend of casual Magic: The Gathering play, local craft beers, and creative writing prompts. Perfect for MTG fans, writers, and anyone looking for a fun, community-driven night out. Locations/Themes to be announced at least 2 weeks ahead of the event. https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/decks-drafts-1/blog-post-title-one-wdar5 monthly 0.5 2025-12-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/7f767fcb-1a80-4b95-a05b-d6f4409c60b0/Untitled+design.jpg Decks & Drafts - December 5, 2025 - 12.5.25 Our first-ever Decks & Drafts meetup launched at Gather 22 on December 5th, and the night set the perfect tone for the community we’re building. We gathered on the veranda, ordered drinks, and settled in for a relaxed, commander-style Magic: The Gathering session. Most players brought their own decks, and our newest player (brand new to MTG) borrowed one from the group as we walked through rules and gameplay together. The evening’s commanders were Aragorn, King of Gondor, Aminatou, Veil Piercer, Clavileno, First of the Blessed, and Satya, Aetherflux Genius. Although we didn’t play long enough to declare an official winner, Aragorn, King of Gondor, was firmly in the lead as we wrapped up the match to transition into our creative portion of the night. To close the evening, we drew a random card from a pre-selected deck and launched into our writing prompt: “Write a backstory for someone based on your card.” Participants could use any format (haiku, flash fiction, a single sentence, miniature play, etc.). The goal was simple: let the card spark imagination. Everyone wrote, shared, and reflected, and the results captured the spirit of blending gameplay with storytelling. https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/decks-drafts-1/blog-post-title-one-wdar5-8lgal monthly 0.5 2026-03-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/f929f4d4-6fd7-4653-99fb-4baa201f3acc/IMG_1729.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 - 1.9.26 This week’s Decks & Drafts unfolded a little differently: no games on the table, just tacos, brews, and conversation beneath a very watchful mural of David Letterman at Agave & Rye in downtown Indianapolis. Low in numbers but high in spirit, we gathered in the booth nearest the window, ordered drinks, and settled in for a relaxed, reflective session. Not every night brings a full pod, but every night moves the collective forward. We’ll be back soon. In the meantime, enjoy these fan art, Severance-themed Magic cards—proof that storytelling and gameplay are always finding new forms. Next Gathering: Friday, February 6, 2026. Theme: “Something Wicked This Way Comes” - A night celebrating all things enchanted, eerie, and mischievous in Magic: The Gathering while giving a wink to the newly released Wicked movie. Think sorcery-heavy decks, bewitching card art, and creative writing that taps into curses, prophecies, and characters with complicated destinies. Suggested Deck Types: Enchantress decks Witch/Warlock themes Curses and hexes Mythic Aristocrats (Zombies, Spirits, Witches, Demons) “Morally gray” commanders (Elphaba energy) Where: Text JOIN to 317-731-2092 for event details (time, location, updates, etc.). Please feel free to email us at decksanddrafts@gmail.com for support! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245873257-IUKTA3BXUG1R5DVK1YOA/IMG_0201.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245873166-X0RFQ4LYDSYNK34VYGF9/IMG_0273.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245880793-019Z7WD5S96RPIEL51GQ/IMG_0270.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245880401-LO2FW4LHU4KMRR21SJ1H/IMG_0205.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245888564-H6FH79OAL19XAIEWMET7/IMG_0203.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245887690-TH7LBP5V7VGVS6H1JMAA/IMG_0213.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245893554-O3FEYYAYQXM9IVQ7EMKN/IMG_0207.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245898813-3QVLA50JSK2ZLEM5TNAY/IMG_0295.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245904301-NQEX9Q8JM36LGNALABJM/IMG_0293.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245908394-F8YWDW1MW8MACMDPG273/IMG_0199.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1768245909491-3WAICG2EBX4TDUA93UHQ/IMG_0209.png Decks & Drafts - January 9, 2026 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/decks-drafts-1/blog-post-title-one-wdar5-8lgal-sfhdm monthly 0.5 2026-03-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/4976e578-0169-466f-81f1-79a96e1f1972/IMG_0532.webp Decks & Drafts - February 6, 2026 - 2.6.26 February’s Decks & Drafts gathering came and went quietly (no table, no commanders, no shuffle and draw). Winter has a way of doing that: slowing momentum, softening edges, asking us to turn inward. So, I found myself thinking about Aminatou, Veil Piercer. Not as a commander on the battlefield, but as something more elusive and closer to instinct, or memory, or the quiet pull of inevitability. Moths slip between worlds the way silences slip between words, carrying with them the faintest disturbances in fate. They are but small emissaries of Aminatou’s will, brushing against the lives of others, nudging threads ever so slightly out of and into place. A path delayed. A choice reconsidered. A future gently rewritten. Decks & Drafts will return. Until then, stories like Aminatou’s remain waiting, shifting, just beneath the surface. Here is an old poem about moths, polished and reworked in 2026: Veil Psalm Consider this body / a moving object Waxed enchantments / plucked somewhere deep That its vast texture / might / stifle the ridges where you breathe. Carcass spiral bites / lights on the surface Telling all sorts of truths / about forgotten planes The way our dead / still / pulse / after sound eludes them. Glimpses of rapture. Consider this body / a graveyard Ash swept skin / fed through tiny teeth. Silkworms carved / into the bark on my back Telling all sorts of truths / about otherness The way our dead still / live inside our tongues Whipping in communication. You identify the / soft layers forming Thousands of them / struggling to age Moths gently / lifting your feet / off the ground. - Poem, Cymelle Edwards https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/decks-drafts-1/blog-post-title-one-wdar5-8lgal-sfhdm-sda8n monthly 0.5 2026-03-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/1cd242d1-d052-4ddc-b870-8a7f3b1dfd43/IMG_0529.jpeg Decks & Drafts - March 6, 2026 - 3.6.26 March’s Decks & Drafts gathering didn’t take place in its usual form, but the spirit of the game carried forward on a much larger stage. Our co-founder traveled to Ohio to compete in the “CEDH Tabernacle DIAMOND” tournament, held at the Mid-Ohio Conference Center. With a player cap of 300 and a highly competitive Commander (cEDH) format, the event brought together players from across the region for a full day of high-level play. The tournament featured: A 100% proxy-friendly environment 4–6 Swiss rounds with 80-minute matches A competitive rules enforcement structure High-stakes prizing, including The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale for first place Against a deep and skilled field, our co-founder placed within the top 100, a strong showing in a tournament of this scale and intensity. While Decks & Drafts is rooted in casual play and creative exploration, moments like this remind us of the many ways Magic can be experienced, from quiet, story-driven tables to high-stakes competitive arenas. Both spaces matter. Both shape the way we understand the game. We’ll be back at the table soon! https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/artist-statement daily 0.75 2026-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/a5fbd57c-4b3c-422f-bf99-cc17f9f919e1/DECKS+%285%29.png Artist Statement - Artist Statement Language is as confused as it is confusing and may have never been taught to walk on its hind legs—a wild thing. My work as a poet, educator, and scholar is grounded in a commitment to both expanding and interrogating the literary canon—to carve out spaces for voices like mine that resist singular narratives of grievance, place, or feeling. My writing and teaching reside in the tension between tradition and transformation, belonging and resistance. Whether through inhabiting the canon or consciously writing around it, I aim to cultivate a space where marginalized expressions are not anomalies but necessary and generative presences in literary discourse. My current research emerges from a constellation of thinkers—Hortense J. Spillers, Frantz Fanon, Toni Morrison, and scholars of Black performance theory—who challenge the boundaries of genre, form, and subjectivity. I am especially interested in how Black writers and artists negotiate the unspeakable through aesthetic innovation. My scholarly manuscript-in-progress examines how contemporary poets of color use syntactic disruption, linguistic invention, and sonic fragmentation to create alternative grammars of feeling. Drawing on Spillers' concept of the "ungendered flesh," Fanon's meditations on the racialized body, Morrison's narrative reordering of time and trauma, and the performative practices of Black fugitivity, I argue that these writers remake language itself as a site of critical possibility and healing. https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/home daily 1.0 2026-01-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/26b8632b-8772-4847-a9d0-acac8f6c6ff1/IMG_1627.jpg https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/read daily 0.75 2026-02-04 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/projects daily 0.75 2025-10-08 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/projects/project-six-n4hfz monthly 0.5 2021-11-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/e31c4eeb-709f-474a-a51e-a5115303ba0d/IMG_3523.JPG Projects - photograph 6 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/projects/project-five-sdjny monthly 0.5 2021-11-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/e5d382e2-0cdd-4260-a19b-2b348d37611c/IMG_3517.JPG Projects - photograph 5 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/projects/project-four-he28m monthly 0.5 2021-11-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/fbaa4e9d-5b40-4441-a5b2-7878a6c63139/IMG_3527.JPG Projects - photograph 4 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/projects/project-three-27xzg monthly 0.5 2021-11-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/a8f39f6a-361d-40a3-8591-7a69202ff7f4/IMG_3514.JPG Projects - photograph 3 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/projects/project-two-c68md monthly 0.5 2021-11-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/0918973a-7f1a-4b51-bdab-77d086677cd1/IMG_3520.JPG Projects - photograph 2 https://www.cymelleleahedwards.com/projects/project-one-lyxcs monthly 0.5 2021-11-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61a16bbafb96aa035e65f7d9/ae90fa9c-780d-4cc4-94b0-c49cbc3469c5/IMG_3530.JPG Projects - photograph 1