By Angela Noel A woman with a cloud of yellow-tinted hair compared my face to a series of shapes and declared it too round to be the coveted oval of beautiful people. I was eight years old. Why this lady, grandmotherly in…
Trust us when we tell you it was out of our control. Send firmly away the instinct to second guess. That instinct is a lie. You may have other struggles, but you don’t know this vulnerability. You’ll never understand this fear. It’s not…
Content Warning: sexual harassment and assault Image capture by RetyiRetyi. Sex is fun. I’m always in a good mood afterwards. It’s good exercise. It helps my insomnia, sometimes. So, yeah, I’m a fan. “Who isn’t?” you might ask. Well, past me, actually….
Our first commandment is this: THOU SHALT NOT LET ANYONE COMMAND YOU TO DO BULLSHT THAT MAKES YOU MISERABLE. Unless it’s your parents, we’ll keep that one—go ahead and honor your parents because you will just feel better if you do. You’ll…
By Ava Thompson She’s been waitingLong past her expiration.She sits on the doorstep of successAnd waits for it to let her in. She’s outgrown the quiet worldOf compromise.Her voice is itching to run free.Her feet follow after. Her wanderlust will no longer…
I helped my daughter get ready for the new school year last night. While she was finishing her bedtime routine, I laid out her clothes and was struck by the fact that she’s entering fourth grade already – fourth grade. At risk…
Southern Daughters I am from the south where the trees are dry and the rivers are waterless. Our sky is dark and its sun is foggy. I am from that south where everything is colorless. Our southern fields have daughters but our…
By Debbie Jinks On Friday 31st March 2017, we celebrated my mum and dad’s 50th Wedding Anniversary. They are now in their 70’s and it made me think back to my life as an Army child. We were on the move a…
By Elaine Mansfield I walked the trails on my land, stunned by the contrast between fields of blooming purple lupines and my numb despair. My husband Vic had died the week before. We knew death was coming, but how can anyone imagine…
By Ian Randall Wilson EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE Flags are waving with the violenceof veterans who hold them out.Around the square people trying to remember. The grass has been replanted.12 times in the last 2 years.Still it won’t grow. The body sickens and recoversfattens…