War paint (A punk song)
By Petra F. Bagnardi — What I'm wearing is not a dress. It's an armor. It's not make-up you glimpse upon my features. It's war paint.
top of page
The
Premier
online
literary
journal
for
Expressive
Writing
The
Premier
online
literary
journal
for
Expressive
Writing
JOURNAL OF
EXPRESSIVE WRITING
THEMES by PROMPT
We publish writing using a series of prompts as an entry point for exploring emotions, personal histories, shared truths, joy, grief, shame, and those themes that matter most to us in our hearts.
Explore the themes by prompt below:
Search
Feb 26
Tap. Clear. Compute.
By Shalini Singh — Driven by an indomitable spirit, I embarked upon this intellectual odyssey, resolute in my quest to unravel the enigmatic
Feb 22
Old Redbud
By Darrell Petska — Old Redbud refuses to die. Its bark peels, insects bore at its core, sap-starved branches snap in the wind. Ten years
Jan 28
He's a Mystery: Ode To Self
By Nkosilathi Moyo — I heard they’re asking, where is he? In the US or the UK? He goes everywhere, like a tree he can sway. Every day,
Jan 22
My Two Fathers
Helga Gruendler-Schierloh — A slightly faded document brutally revealed to me that the wonderful man who so devotedly took care of me was
Jan 4
City Smells
Mehreen Ahmed — Dimly lit under the street lamps in an old alley at midnight, a nostalgia wells up. A perceptible city smell tickles the
Dec 12, 2023
Equilibrium
By Eugene Datta — A tangle of leafless branches and twigs across a wire fence,
and through it the winter sky: patches of blue, gray and
Nov 21, 2023
Aren't you glad it’s a girl?
By Evelyn Asher — Grief grabbed me.
Postpartum depression overshadowed societal joy. An arms-length relationship with my mother flashed.
Nov 1, 2023
Mopping
By Zary Fekete — One day my father taught me how to use a mop. The mop was old-fashioned with dozens of tendrils soaked with soapy water.
Oct 25, 2023
New Moon in Cancer
By Nicole Menzzasalma — The path of long time suffering is faulted on the stars of non believers, fictitious foes,
forlorn lovers, and
Oct 12, 2023
No one is excluded from love, including me
By Pavlina Gatikova — Inhale the quote by Thich Nhan Hanh “Because you’re alive, everything’s possible,” which includes abuse, manipulation,
Sep 15, 2023
ENOUGH OF LIFE CUT SHORT ALREADY
By John Grey — He shows me a wall where a man was shot. Rub your fingers across the stone. Feel the holes where they missed. I'm grateful
Sep 6, 2023
Scoliosis
By Doley Henderson — Scoliosis is not a deformity. It is just a different state of spine. It is not a disease and not infectious. We are all
Aug 31, 2023
Mirror Freedom
By Duane Anderson — My face had gone unseen, at least by me for several weeks after the bathroom mirror had been removed for a remodeling
Aug 5, 2023
Time outside clock
By Sushant Thapa — I am buried in deadlines. It seems that the sun will shine late tomorrow. But there will be tomorrow. There will be my
Jul 31, 2023
Cold
By Jeremiah K Durick — It’s like time travel back to my childhood. I’m sitting on the couch in the living room, home from school, coughing
Jul 19, 2023
The End of All Things
By Gary Beck — As the empire dissolves, madness accelerates, breeding chaos. Armed bands roam the country, make dates to fight other bands,
Jun 3, 2023
When I’m Gone
By Khloe Kempker — Tell them that I never left a treacherous trail of burdened broken hearts like seashells along the shore, that I always
May 16, 2023
Drifting
By John Lynn Swainston — I am sure there is a name for it. I called it drifting, getting from one place to another without taking a step.
May 1, 2023
Women Making Waves
By Joanne Greene — What never entered my mind in 1977 was that Roe v. Wade could be overturned by the Supreme Court, and that women in
bottom of page