Going Gray

You want to be a part of me, your absence of color like spider’s silk growing, surrounded by a sea of dark strands, lonely. Patiently, you wait for me to find you, but my job, chores, phone calls, and the rest of routine that comes with family keep me distracted Read more

Eloisa Perez-Lozano

Eloísa Pérez-Lozano writes poems and essays about Mexican-American identity, women’s issues, and motherhood. She graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in psychology and an M.S. in journalism and mass communications. A 2016 Sundress Publications Best of the Net nominee, her work has been featured in “The Texas Observer,” “Houston Chronicle,” and “Poets Reading the News,” among others. She lives with her family in Houston, Texas.

Searching For Home

At night, after my day as a spice merchant concludes, the smell of garlic and onion dust coats my clothes and body like a new skin, as though I am someone different. I do not shower before visiting my parents, my scent melds with their age and confinement. My mother Read more

Tom Lagasse

Tom’s poetry has been published in Black Bough’s Poetry Freedom & Rapture and Dark Confessions; Faith, Hope, and Fiction; Silver Birch Press Prime Movers Series, Freshwater Literary Review, Word Mill Magazine, The Monterey Poetry Review, and Plum Tree Tavern, along with a half dozen anthologies among others. Several short stories appeared in The Feminine Collective. He lives in Bristol, CT.

I wasn’t here.

You didn’t see me.I wasn’t saying anything.You didn’t hear me.The time passed.So much of it good-Quality.But I wasn’t present…Lives created, grown and graduated- Inside of me.Through me-From me- But I had nothing to do with it.Because…I wasn’t here.You can’t see me in photos.That wasn’t me.Skinny.Blonde.West Coat.I’m rounder now.Dark hair.And East Coast by Read more

Walking Warriors

One cane in each hand, she’s doing the best she can One foot forward, then a tap, she’s going to do a lap At ninety-three, she keeps on going, while knowing Her tomorrows are few, but she is determined to do What it takes to feel alive, so she continues Read more

Mary Penner

Mary Penner has written poetry since the age of ten. She has always enjoyed telling human interest stories through rhyme and has recently begun writing stories in prose form. For twenty-five, Mary was a social worker and educator specializing in family and school counseling. She taught in elementary schools and in universities where she designed and facilitated the Program Planning Course. Mary's poems have been published in three anthologies: including two of Polar Expressions Collections of Canadian Poetry: Let's Fly Away, in 2017; Overture, in 2016. Mary is also a contributing Author in We are the Wordsmiths: A Collection of Short Stories and Poetry, 2017 (Albatross Publishing). Also in 2017, Mary was one of the adjudicators of the South Simcoe Arts Council's Creative Works Writing Contest. Most recently, Mary wast the Audience Prompter in the play Saving Grace: A Victorian Melodrama by a fellow Wordsmith member.

Falling Out

Will I stop disappearing if I get Botox, or whiten my teeth, or thicken my thinning hair with extensions? Will I stop disappearing if I highlight under my eyes or draw in my eyebrows? What if I strap on tights, a push-up bra and high heels? Will I stop disappearing Read more

Alice Barstow

Alice has had a handful of careers and pursuits over the years with writing being a constant friend throughout all journeys, and the place that feels the most at home. Aside from articles and columns published on local news outlets, her work also appears in the anthology "This One Has No Name"- a collection of works by a small group of writers she happily meets and writes with monthly. Alice resides in a hilly New England town mothering two fascinating daughters, an overly excitable dog, and a moody cat, alongside her thankfully very patient husband.

Great Game Changer

Once … Once upon a time … Once upon a time there was a vibrant young girl, full of passion and ambition, full of pride and self-worth. Time … Time is the great thief. It beats you down when you are ill-prepared. It takes more than your youthful appearances, it Read more

Ann Christine Tabaka

Ann Christine Tabaka is a nominee for the 2017 Pushcart Prize in Poetry. She lives in Delaware, USA. She loves gardening and cooking. Chris lives with her husband and two cats. She has been widely published in National and International publications and Anthologies. Visit Ann's Author page on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Christine-Tabaka/e/B06XF2PWSK

Agony Column

Dear Glutton for Punishment, How much longer are you going to put yourself through hell with this man? You’ve been dating three years now, you’re 38, and he’s 54. No problem at all, except that you want to get married and have children, and he absolutely does not. He’s never Read more

Susan P. Blevins

Susan P. Blevins was born in England, and escaped at age twenty on her life quest, moving first to Italy for 26 years, and then to the USA, where she now lives. The older she gets, the more passionately involved she becomes in the world, and the more she wants to make a personal contribution. She believes that we can all make a difference, one hug, and one smile at a time.

Would a Broken Arm Cast a Pall on My High School Reunion?

If you had told me I’d be going to my high school reunion with a cast on my arm, I wouldn’t have believed it. After all, I was still in recovery mode and doing physical therapy following hip surgery a couple of months before. I could almost picture going to Read more

Mary Novaria

Mary Novaria's is a two-time Writer's Digest award winner whose work has been featured in Oprah Daily, Washington Post, Spirituality & Health, Cosmopolitan, Feminine Collective, FF2 Media, HuffPost, and elsewhere. She and her husband are empty nesters who live in the mountains of Colorado with their rescue dog, Rooney. She is currently working on a novel.