Tag: self-worth

Tiny Exile

Judith Staff

Imploringly staring up at you desperate to reach your eyes, your heart. You direct your glance away, avoiding her pleading gaze.             alone, fretful Trying to keep abreast of your footsteps, she’s running, almost tripping now. You merely quicken your stride, leaving her unable to level Read more

Judith Staff

Judith Staff’s background is in teaching and early years education. She still teaches occasionally, though now her main focus is in child welfare and safeguarding children. Her work includes delivering training, presenting at conferences, and engaging in collaborative projects with schools around child abuse awareness and sexual violence prevention. She enjoys writing blogs and poetry on topics she feels passionate about. Judith loves running, gym classes and karate. She is married to an art lecturer and they live in Northamptonshire, England with their three free-spirited children, a 12- year-old son, and daughters aged 11 and 9.

Constellation of Pleasure: Only the Stars Can Hear Me

DB Maddox

Chapter 1: Bloodguilt “You’re done with your period, right?” Elijah asked as he lit the candle on the nightstand beside his bed. It was already burnt down from use, but I knew better than to ask why. I wasn’t sure how to answer him at first. I had seen some Read more

DB Maddox

I was a clueless kid back then but I always followed my heart; I knew I wanted to be a Writer but I didn't know what that meant, or what my options were. So I became an Editor--it was something that just came naturally to me. Twenty-plus years later, I'm still an Editor. It has served me well, at least in the day-to-day; and when you're in survival mode, just getting through the day is enough. But at roughly the midway mark of my career, and looking up from the precipice of what must have been my 17th relapse, I thought that maybe this was just my destiny, and if so, there simply had to be value in chronicling it. And while my reasons for writing a memoir may have been tenuous and ever-evolving, it was never about catharsis. Instead, by reliving the trauma of my upbringing and the desperation of my youth, I discovered that I had had agency all along, in my own twisted way; and I felt compelled to share that revelation and have spent years searching for a platform to do just that--until I found the Feminine Collective. I invite you to engage therein with this ongoing series of excerpts from my debut memoir, "Constellation of Pleasure: Only the Stars Can Hear Me," a tale unduly tragic, but through which I expect readers will perceive a reflection of themselves to whatever degree, and be empowered.

You Made The World

Anne Leigh Parrish

Agony—a gone knee Can’t bend—no way to mend This isn’t about aging—maybe about raging What stops the crazy rhyme-time? Unplug the clock Blind its ruby face Tear your eyes out if you must Choke on dust There I go again, too easy This lilting rhythm and sound Trapped by the Read more

Anne Leigh Parrish

Award-winning writer Anne Leigh Parrish’s next novel, an open door, will be published in October 2022 by Unsolicited Press. Recent titles from Unsolicited Press are the moon won’t be dared, a poetry collection, October 2021, and a winter night, a novel, released in March 2021. She is the author of seven other books. She has recently ventured into the art of photography and lives in the South Sound Region of Washington State. Find her online at her website, Twitter, Facebook, Medium, Instagram, Linked In, and Goodreads.

dear shelley: (the one who says I’m a whore)

C. Streetlights

not shelley, +++ the one I taught +++as a 6th grader not shelley, +++the one I know +++from chicago but shelley, +++the one from ohio +++who says I’m trash does it make you mad +++to know your words +++make my fire burn brighter? your anger delights +++my power, it validates +++my Read more

C. Streetlights

As a child, C. Streetlights listened to birds pecking at her rooftop, but instead of fearing them, was convinced they would set her free and she’d someday see the stars. Southern California sunshine never gave C. Streetlights the blonde hair or blue eyes she needed to fit in with her high school’s beach girls, her inability to smell like teen spirit kept her from the grunge movement, and she wasn’t peppy enough to cheer. She ebbed and flowed with the tide, not a misfit but not exactly fitting in, either. Streetlights grew up, as people do, earned a few degrees and became a teacher. She spent her days discussing topics like essay writing, Romeo and Juliet, the difference between a paragraph and a sentence, and for God’s sake, please stop eating the glue sticks. She has met many fools, but admires Don Quixote most because he taught her that it didn’t matter that the dragon turned out to be a windmill. What mattered was that he chose to fight the dragon in the first place. Streetlights now lives in the mountains with a husband, two miracle children, and a dog who eats Kleenex. She retired from teaching so she can raise her children to pick up their underwear from the bathroom floor, to write, and to slay windmills and dragons. She is happy to report that she can finally see the stars.

How Do You Like Me Now?

Jacqueline Cioffa

We live in the dirty, digital age of Celebrity wannabe where everyone, including me, overshares everything. At the gym today, I was listening to Ryan Seacrest who is literally…EVERY PLACE… EVERYWHERE in our psyche, and exhausting our subconscious. He was talking about how North West loves to play with makeup, 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.

Running For My Life

Marie Scampini

I couldn’t sleep anyway
There was nothing else to do with my rage and sorrow
no one believed me – everyone hid in the shadows of shame
I was a broken exile machine piled
exiled in the house I grew up in
so I ran

Marie Scampini

Marie Scampini is a published poet, playwright, short story writer, currently working on a poetry collection and project - 1775 Poems in 1775 Days, to save her life every day, on a page, and in this world; fighting for justice, safety, and equality for all, one person at a time.

Reclaiming History

E. Mason Kaye

Men’s words cannot define you anymore.
Once, you may have let others tear you apart
only to strike the final mutinous blow yourself;
but you have come back from that.
You are more than that.
Your potential is unlimited.

E. Mason Kaye

E. Mason Kaye is a mechanical engineering major at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, previously a drama student at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. Mason has one year of editing experience with Polyphony H.S., an online annual publication written and edited by teens. They are a freelance stage manager, occasional actor, and passionate writer. Mason particularly focuses on feminist works as well as integrating science into art in addition to themes including gender fluidity, queer identities, modern politics, and a general attack against bigotry.

You’re Not the One Who Broke His Heart

Logan Ebbets

I recently reconnected with my “it’s complicated” after a falling out. This was a mistake. But my rationale was, he had recently broken up with his college-aged girlfriend, and I felt like it was a good time to have the talk we never had after our falling out. My conscious Read more

Logan Ebbets

My name is Logan and I am a mountain loving millennial from the East Coast. After graduating from the University of Vermont, I drove to Colorado, to work at a ski resort, and stayed for five years. I had the time of my life and considered that my post-graduate education in life. This Fall I am pursuing a real Master's degree in Organizational Leadership. Writing has always been my form of therapy and I hope anyone who takes the time to read my essays can feel a little better about their own struggles.