How I Became a Citizen of the United States of America

My parents had sex; nine months later I was born. My citizenship is a result of dumb luck. I did not work for it or yearn for it. I did not have to struggle to get to this country. Citizenship was a gift. I have not felt the burn of bigotry Read more

Victoria Addesso

Vicki Addesso has worked in various fields over the years, full-time and part-time. In between family life and bill-paying endeavors, she works at writing. Co-author of the collaborative memoir Still Here Thinking of You~A Second Chance With Our Mothers (Big Table Publishing, 2013), she has had work published in Gravel Magazine, Barren Magazine, The Writer, Sleet Magazine, Damselfly Press, Feminine Collective, and Tweetspeak Poetry. A personal essay is included in the anthology My Body My Words, edited by Loren Kleinman and Amye Archer. You can follow Vicki on Twitter @VickiAddesso.

Zombie Nation

I have met too many friends and foes that say they don’t care about politics. They don’t care about equality, racism, mental illness, sexual harassment, and gun violence shrugging their shoulders brushing off the uncomfortable, the taboo. It’s not happening to me. That’s the poor man’s excuse, cowardice is plain Read more

Jacqueline Cioffa

A retired, international model, and celebrity makeup artist. Co-Author of Model Citi Zen, the guide. Founder of http://modelcitizenmakeup.blogspot.com/. Author of numerous prose pieces in various literary magazines. Most recently published in Little Episodes Brainstorms the anthology, among esteemed artists Sadie Frost, Melvin Burgess and Todd Swift.

Political Peace No. 2

Within a country once so proud, respect and morals have fallen to the ground. Wayward children runaround, their lack of respect the new age playground. Once upon a time, sounds like the beginning of a children’s nursery rhyme, so I will spare you of your time, to forget again no Read more

Valerie Vaughn

Valerie Vaughn is a poet, writer, and author. A native of central Pennsylvania, she received her Bachelor's of Arts in History from Mary Baldwin College. She is a contributor to Poets Unlimited, Crossing Genres, and Extra Newsfeed at Medium. Her works appear in narratorINTERNATIONAL Anthologies Volumes 2 and 3, where she is an Editor's Pick Recipient.

Aleppo at Christmas 2016

The age of miracles pretending to be this wonderful illusion wanting to see our hearts depths and story lines wanting to leave the eyes and trips stuck in our throats wanting to achieve endless motion, desire to believe in our human sacrifice wanting a reprieve from monsters hiding wanting to Read more

Merima Trako

Merima was born and raised in Bosnia-Herzegovina (former Yugoslavia). Sudden nationalistic divide in the early nineties, leads to a bloody war where a three percent of Bosnian population (mainly Muslims) is killed. Merima and her family escape ethnic cleansing in Banja Luka (where she was born) and settle in Travnik. Her story continues with her move to the USA to study engineering and mathematics, her “other love”, where she lives now. She is a mother, a refugee, an engineer and a woman passionate about creating literary awareness about world issues, social injustices and her life experiences, consisting of complex topics, from religion to non-spiritual events. Her work is available for readers on her website www.worldaccordingtoblam.com. Most recently she published two short stories and two poems in the collection of prose and poetry of the No Name Writing Group from Washington Depot, CT in their anthology titled “This One Has No Name”.

Say Goodbye Donald, You American Monster

Say goodbye Donald you American monster the end is near your Election day reckoning is oh so close and I can taste my fury as I want to spit on your orange face on my TV, my tablet, and my phone because you and your deplorables aren’t the only ones Read more

John Michael Antonio

John Michael Antonio is a freelance writer, photographer, poet and screenwriter. He claims his Midwestern roots while at the same time admitting his incurable and insatiable love and addiction for all things New York City. He has been the husband to his wife, the love of his life, for almost thirty years and is a father of three wonderful children. He is an unapologetic male feminist as well as a passionate lover of fashion, art, movies and music from all eras and genres. An endless dreamer, John Michael is also an avid historian, ex-punk rocker and a legendary Internet surfer who sleeps, on average, about four hours a day. His work has also been featured on The Good Men Project.

Sunglass Hut

I wear my sunglasses when I step outside so no one will be able to tell I am high, the red railway map of my eyes guides the way; Vivid scenery, colored lenses help my sensitive eyes not to fry from sun rays throwing shade around ears to hear to Read more

Valerie Vaughn

Valerie Vaughn is a poet, writer, and author. A native of central Pennsylvania, she received her Bachelor's of Arts in History from Mary Baldwin College. She is a contributor to Poets Unlimited, Crossing Genres, and Extra Newsfeed at Medium. Her works appear in narratorINTERNATIONAL Anthologies Volumes 2 and 3, where she is an Editor's Pick Recipient.

Send Them Away

I don’t think I have another rant left to write. Disgusted, frightened, ashamed, and whatever synonyms for those words that might be found in a Thesaurus have taken over my psyche since 11/8/16. If I glance in the mirror, I see myself among the hollow-eyed zombies in “Thriller,” dragging around Read more

Marsha Owens

Marsha is a retired educator who lives and writes in Richmond VA. Her favorite quote for these troubled times: “Take your broken heart and turn it into art.” (Meryl Streep) Her work has been published at NewVerseNews, The Wild Word, and Life in 10 Minutes. #Resist

The Heart Of Democracy

There’s an ancient Chinese curse that states, “May you live in interesting times” I don’t really know if this saying is ancient, and I am not even certain that it’s Chinese but the past 222 days that President Trump has been in office have made me fully understand why this Read more

Jillian Green DiGiacomo

Jillian Green DiGiacomo an American writer living in America. Sometimes she writes all the time. Sometimes not so much. Her award-winning novel, Codename Cupcake is a hilarious satire about motherhood, espionage, and the PTA. This work has been widely read by every member of her mother’s bridge club. In her free time, she pretends to be very busy so no one asks her to volunteer for anything.