We are still alive
By Shannon Kenny — In the waiting area of the public hospital where my husband is receiving treatment, I shut my eyes and listen as the
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
Aug 21, 2023
Lockdown
By Anthony John Ward — It was if the sky had become solidified and I was sheltering beneath a dark cloud, though the landscape stayed the
Aug 18, 2023
Whose Life Is It, Anyway?
By D.R. James — A dingy ladybug just slammed into this split-ended web of grass as if shot from an organic cannon for a miniature net.
Aug 14, 2023
Blindness and Love
By Hector Rodriguez — Living in darkness. I’ve yearned for closeness. Not seeing has not limited my search for love. While I can't see, I'm
Aug 11, 2023
Our Personal Wedding Vows
By Philip Hughes-Luing — You are the first person with whom I will share a joy or a sorrow, a fear or a conviction. You are the first person
Aug 8, 2023
Is This Seat Taken?
By Melissa Giberson — I don’t say that during my marriage sex was challenging and while I enjoyed the physical act, I also avoided it and
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 29, 2023
Freedman Village of the Dead
By Mark Blickley — A dozen years ago, I visited Arlington National Cemetery for the first (and only) time. As a reluctant participant in the
Jul 26, 2023
Chasing The Good Life
By Glenn Marchand — You come forth like thunder—beauty of mystery—astrology and focus. Loving has been shallow, lethal at points, dragons
Jul 23, 2023
The innards of desire
By Gabriella Garofalo — Over there the seed dissolves, slightly worn out, yet incandescent when the hands of ancient ghouls rise by
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,
Jul 16, 2023
Cries
By Colin Ian Jeffery — We hear cries of children yet to be born, descendants of our families calling out against global warming. Out of
Jul 12, 2023
An Outburst from a Desperate Soul
By Caroline Reddy — I looked like a boy. I was thirteen years old when father’s words—suffocated my embryo. In your absence the summer
Jul 9, 2023
Five-minute do-overs
By Noreene Storrie — In contrast to my father who used to say it could have been worse, I know it could have been better, and this would
Jul 6, 2023
Sonnet about Apollonian beauty of the world
By Paweł Markiewicz — We muse about astonishing moon. We dream of the surprising vessel. We philosophize about fair throne. We describe
Jul 2, 2023
Clothes Call
By Allan Lake — I give you avalanches of love, attempt your language (a marathon with hurdles), wait for you to commit as if I were a
Jun 29, 2023
Bilingual
By Deborah Diemont — To float between expressions, hummingbirds beat manic verses, testing sentences, parents' dreams. Carnival gunpowder
Jun 26, 2023
My Mother the Car
By Phill LoFaso — Heavy rain hits the windscreen. The streets are hard to see. Tall oaks lean in. Untold threats unseen. The unknown and
Jun 23, 2023
The night will be for day dreamers
By Brian Michael Barbeito — A band I never saw, not w/my eyes anyhow. I was sitting at the top of a large ship, a ship that was around seven
bottom of page