Children are often protected by their parents from the financial realities of family life. When I was very young, my own mother and father were embarrassed by how tight their money was after they both left the Army in the …
Ray by Sarah Kuhns
I could probably walk there blindfolded for someone who doesn’t have much sense of direction. I can see it now. The tinted barber’s pole sat slightly below the sign outside. Red, white, and blue swirls. The sign either read “Ray’s” …
The Socratic Seminar: A Queer Ethos by Sierra Shields
I graduated in 2015 from Sierra High School located in the Harrison school district, the same year that same-sex marriage was legalized. In both our English and Social Studies classes, we used the Socratic method when we would discuss various …
My First Semester by Juan Johnson
As I step out of my car and look at the college campus, I see a majestic mountain looking down upon me. I think to myself, “Do I have all my equipment to make it to the daunting top?” The …
Fair Mermaid by Lawrence Koebernik
The moon was full and high in the sky that night, giving off a glow of light to the beach. It allowed me to see the board walkway that led nearly to the water’s edge, stopping only a couple yards …
Bad Day by DeAndre Bright
The sky is grey with rain. You feel a kind of strain. The mind is getting narrow-sighted. Anger can easily be misguided. The usual outlet is to scorn. The family we have known since we were born. Everything seems wrong, …
Accounts Payable by Joanna Southcott
I wouldn’t call myself a poet I wouldn’t call myself a dancer I wouldn’t call myself anything really maybe sad I wish I could write I wish I could pour my heart and turn it into beautiful stories I do …
Sounds of a Vietnam War-Era Childhood by Dana Zimbleman
Always murmuring in the background, the television taught me the alphabet game using words from faraway lands. P-P-P… Phnom Pehn L-L-L… Laos A-A-A… Agent Orange Y-Y-Y… Y? Subtle sounds, soothing to a civilian child remote and removed from sad suffering …
To Mom & Dad by Joanna Southcott
You are the rock in the water, and I am the little seashell, or maybe a crab, or a fish you have weathered many storms, stood the test of time provided solace, comfort, and stability one day I will be …
