This is one of my visions for an ideal Christmas. It’s a short, happy confection, a dream apart from these dire times. I hope you take some time to imagine your ideal […]
An Ideal Christmas
Cutting as Cleansing
A week ago*, I cut just over twelve inches of my long, curly locks off. It wasn’t the first time I’d cut off a drastic amount of hair. The first time I […]
After the Election: Create to Cope
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. Don’t let the bastards grind you down. —Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale In the wake of the 2016 U.S. election—I was going to write “the election,” which has […]
When Girls Make Noise
Kari O’Driscoll’s piece, “When Girls Make Noise,” at The Manifest-Station caught my attention when I was busy with something else, almost as if it interrupted. I loved the title, and the first line spoke […]
Gratitude: The Beauty and Solace of WORK
By Susan Lilley Lately I’ve been doing a lot of bragging on Facebook and Instagram about former students doing stellar things, like performing on Broadway or publishing in top-tier magazines. But the […]
When You Need to Break Bread with Voters from the Other Side
We’re in that weird space between last week’s election and next week’s day of Thanks. And in that middle space, we’ve all had to face some uncomfortable feelings about our nation, our […]
We will define this new presidency. It will not define us.
The ballots have abeen cast and counted and the news stations have  called it. The outcome of this election has shown us just how much work we still have to do. First, take […]
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We are performing site maintenance so The Gloria Sirens may not appear as it normally does, and there may be difficulty loading older posts. Please bear with us and thanks for your […]
A Dog’s Message to Undecided Voters
These days, they let anybody vote. Felons, zombies, bitches, anybody. Just look at them. So they might as well let me vote. I love the ladies. Nobody respects the ladies more. In fact, I go […]
Starting the Conversation: Speaking Out About Sexual Abuse
Recently the poet Annie Finch posted on her blog a piece called “Things I’ve Been Ashamed to Share About Being a Writer Until Now,” in which she gets specific about what men […]
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