Author Archives: 23mcdonalda

I am from love disguised:  stairwell singing and piano room dancing.  I am from a gingerbread home on a busy street  With loud backyard parties, where company is all you need.  I am from purple lilacs  Whose scent hugs me … Continue reading →

It may seem absurd that of all things she could be doing― laughing with her friends, reading, playing with her dog, or simply being anywhere else― she stayed locked up in her room― while the sun slowly shifted from one … Continue reading →

How do you define mortality? If you google “what is morality,” you’ll find the definition: principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad behavior. Morality is having ideas and beliefs that steer you towards right and … Continue reading →

“Noah,” Claire said gingerly, then, exlaimed with more sureness, “Noah!”  Noah’s head snapped, too quickly to be casual, in the direction of her voice.  “Hello?” he questioned.  At the sound of Claire’s voice, his presence and character became more precise, … Continue reading →

August 26, 1920 Just over twenty years ago, half of this American population received their right to be heard. The tape over their mouths was removed.  And replaced by glue – glue so clear and so thin, thus those who … Continue reading →

The American Dream: an idea that coming to America offers you the chance to become anything one has ever dreamed of being; it emphasizes the ideas of freedom, equality, growth, and prosperity. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen … Continue reading →

I roll out of bed at exactly 11:29 A.M., just as I have been for the past week and a half. This seems like a perfect start to a perfect day; I get to sleep in, only being awoken by … Continue reading →

Hope: a feeling of trust; trust that things will turn out okay, or just the way one imagined. The comment delivered by Nick at the end of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, represents his feelings, and humanity’s nature … Continue reading →

Hump: to carry a heavy object with great difficulty. “To carry something was to hump it… [to hump] implied burdens far beyond the intransitive” (O’Brien 3). It would be much harder to name the things these soldiers didn’t carry; whether … Continue reading →

“Abby, let’s go to Africa!”  “Africa? Like, the continent?”  “No, Africa!”  I didn’t understand what ‘Africa’ was until I was there. It turns out that ‘Africa’ wasn’t, in fact, the continent, but a wooden deck overlooking the marsh. Once we … Continue reading →