July 6, 2026 | Cupboard Monthly

From far and away is to feel home like root longs for worm, like ridge longs for air, like penance longs for firm, like mirror longs for stare.

I returned from Ecuador, my cup flowing over with gratitude at having been able to explore such an unbelievable place. Here is Cupboard Monthly, Ecuadorian edition.

Traipsing through the Amazon Rainforest and encountering gawk-worthy views around each street corner in Quito gives me enough artistic inspiration for a lifetime. What am I to do with all these ideas and so little time? It's such a blessing of a problem to have!

I'd like to share some art with you from the La Floresta parish in Quito, an avant-garde burrough known for its creative and youthful energy (not to mention some excellent late-night street food).

A mural by Ecuadorian artist Pino Supay, whose street art can be discovered across the globe from Berlin to Mexico City.

"True Magic" by DERRAME, a visual artist, graphic designer and muralist who uses animal and human symbolism to explore and translate population-level emotional climates.

My personal favorite: this is a larger piece by Colombian artist Toxicómano Callejero, known for his anti-establishment influences, satire and provocative radicalism.

Punk is alive and well in Ecuador as the nation navigates ongoing conservative governance, fueled by anti-drug trafficking and domestic security concerns among right-wing parties. While many express well-established concerns over record homicide rates and organized crime, others argue that President Noboa's reactive militarization policies have only exacerbated these issues, contributing to Ecuador's human rights crisis declared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights last autumn.

"[The current administration] recently rolled back health care for many people," one of our Uber drivers commented. "It is harder to obtain care than it used to be... Longer lines, more waiting and higher costs. The government is prioritizing the military but health services are not prioritized."

Our guide to La Floresta, Santi, grew up in a large Quito-based family before moving across South America to pursue his career in music. He lived in Venezuela, Argentina and Colombia among other nations, and felt passionate about his Ecuadorian heritage and the nation's long history of resistance against unstable and corrupt regimes.

"Now, you see many elderly people working in the streets for money. Ten years ago, we never saw that," Santi said. "The government just does not prioritize its people, it does not prioritize culture, education and the environment. Leaders have rolled back policies that protect the rights of indigenous Ecuadorian communities. These communities are everything, they are our culture. And it is thought that the current people in power have ties to the cartels. It's all very corrupt."

Appropriately, Santi broke our conversation to tip two musicians as they serenaded our dessert stop with a harmonized version of Cuban Composer Compay Segundo's "Chan Chan."

Pivoting back to the murals, Santi explained the liberating feminist undertones behind the modern street art scene in Ecuador. "Nowadays, many of the street artists here are women. This is especially important since our culture is so 'machismo' as they say; masculine-oriented. This allows women to have a voice where they might not, otherwise."

As sociopolitical tensions continue to ebb and flow, artists, musicians and punks across the capital city rise to meet the challenge of the day.

Some truths are universal!

Writing Stuff

Evening Under an Amazonian Sunset

By Elle Estérre

Pale sky ripens pink

Still above a steaming breath

Wealth takes many forms

--

I will keep it brief, since this issue is getting lengthy!

My ekphrastic sonnet, "Garden of Venus," received the 2026 Best Ekphrasis Panel Award from Three Panels Press on June 14. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for my work. I am astonished and so proud to have received this recognition!

You can read "Garden of Venus" along with all other selected pieces from writers across the globe in the finished publication of "Silver Thread," Issue 6 from Three Panels Press.

Go to Three Panels Press

Passage of the Month

... I love it here, skimming out into the night anonymous among the lazy commerce, my nieces dancing on the breakwater as they wait, the lovely swallowing of thick night air as it carves around my brain, blunt, cleaning itself with nothing but this anonymity, with the magic words. Harbour. Lost ship. Chandler. Estuary.

— Michael Ondaatje, Running in the Family

Thank you for reading!

Best,

Elle ♥︎