Haruka Aoki’s “Nothing to See”

Animals displaying human behaviors are often the stuff of fables, intent on communicating moral lessons. But in this work, by the Japanese American poet-illustrator Haruka Aoki, a cat is, delightfully, just a cat. In their first cover, for the June 16, 2025, issue, Aoki celebrates the animal’s playful and whimsical nature. They call their drawing, inspired by their experiences as a cat-sitter, a “meditation on power, love, and accountability (or the lack thereof).”