By Benedicte Grima When I walk into a house, the first thing my eyes tune into is the presence or absence of books. I am immediately unsettled by the invisible volumes, and the space seems stark, lifeless. When I watch speakers on television talk from their homes and offices, I scour the bookshelves behind them, … Continue reading Library Collections
You Will Scream It At The Clouds If You Don’t Say It
By Heather Box I've been to what feels like too many whiskey-drenched nights, filled with shock, loud laughs, tears, subtle nods, and people collapsing in their grief. The way people work to create a silver lining so immediately after someone dies hurts so bad. In all the deaths I’ve seen, I have yet to find … Continue reading You Will Scream It At The Clouds If You Don’t Say It
My Time As A Hermit
By Michael Barrington After ten years as a busy religious missionary priest in Africa, I was driven by an internal compulsion to spend some time in silence, prayer, and solitude. I had spent three of those years in Nigeria, witness to unspeakable horrors and atrocities during its civil war. Delivering aid was a matter of … Continue reading My Time As A Hermit
Money Talks But Not To Me
By Debra J. White Money doesn’t grow on trees, nor is it in my bank account. I’m in my twilight years, recently turned seventy. I’ll probably die without a hefty stock portfolio, or wads of cash stashed underneath my bed. Just as well. I can’t take it with me beyond. Then again, no one else … Continue reading Money Talks But Not To Me
Hardwired
By Jill Sisson There were a lot of them, a small crowd of pronghorns, shining like bits of lightning on the sagebrush hills just outside the small town of Worland, Wyoming. I was part of a three-person crew of field biologists, all of us in our mid-20s, crammed in a government rig to inventory and … Continue reading Hardwired
That Smile
By Ahming Zee The fairest day in hapless mortal’s life Is ever first to flee. --Virgil, Georgics I got laid off last summer – the act of Murphy’s Law that is said to occur at least once in a lifetime – it occurred right after I had booked my trip to Beijing to visit my … Continue reading That Smile
Heritage
By Huma Farid My lineage is a black hole, adrift from the reality of my present. I stand alone, an alien amongst those who have casually, thoroughly laid claim to a land that could not be claimed. I wonder: what must it feel like for your ancestors’ memories to shape your history? What must it … Continue reading Heritage
Strangers on the Tram
By Mirela-Andreea Rotariu Trapped in the bronze, weathered gaze of the trumpeter with no body, I willed myself to take a few steps back, realizing I had been staring at the sculpture for too long. It was a rather abstract depiction. Mounted on a lusterless, white pedestal, the figure’s hands stood erect holding the trumpet, … Continue reading Strangers on the Tram
The Endless Day
By Penny Nolte The station is packed and no wonder. Our train is delayed because of the storm and no one knows when it will get through, that’s good news for us because otherwise we’d have missed it. The trip is my present, because I hate to fly. We are taking a sleeper car all … Continue reading The Endless Day
Inspire for Hire
By Alex Andy Phuong As a person transitioned from college to adulthood, conflict came about along with hints of doubt. After all, like after graduation is nothing like High School Musical. Without graduating summa cum laude, this individual had to learn many powerful life lessons that extend beyond academic settings. In fact, this person learned … Continue reading Inspire for Hire
Academy of the Heart And Mind 