Think of the sparkle and happiness children can bring.

Children illuminate and unveil so much to parents.
Like magic, we see ourselves in them.
Like an inverse mirror,
we feel and hear our parents words and attributes expressing themselves.
We hear our wrongs and rights exposed and shouting back at us.

• Our self is flayed open with blinding revulsion at what we have created.

Wonder touches the very moment their eyes open.
Alive with honest agony they cry and scream.
Upon the world left without the cord filled with Mother’s dream.
Thrust and awakened filling a new space both odd and frightening.
We see…

Your story is dated May 26, 2020. This will confuse readers because you have updated information in the story regarding the ARPA regarding dates now, after March 20, 2021. Many people will disregard this story due to date it was originally published. Please change the title, your graphic, and some of the wording then republish using the editing features under the ellipsis or write another story with the updates. This information needs to reach current readers.

Self Improvement

If you have to find a reason to determine a person’s intelligence level, something is already askew. That’s right. Whether you’re evaluating a workmate, a potential employee, or a friend, a little worm in your thinking showed you need to know the level of the wet noodle’s computation powers you’re interfacing with.

Why is that?

Is it because you’re insecure and threatened by them? Or are they acting ridiculously, indicating lunacy? Who can say? Why say at all?

The Crux

• You don’t need to size up anyone’s mental acuity.
• If you think you need to evaluate their IQ, EQ, SQ (Social Quotient)…

I created my first NFT today and it was an exciting learning experience. I posted my art on OpenSea and entered into the non-fungible market. NFTs are a hot item in an emerging world of cryptos. Any art, video, song, and illustration can be made into a token instantly marked and recorded immutably and without question as yours until it is sold. Then if your art is sold again, you receive a percentage. The process repeats forever.

Celebrities and folks like you and me are taking advantage of the craze. …

Poem: A haiku for spring so soon upon us. Time for rejuvenation and flourish—time for love and fresh spirits to blossom.

Forward Flight

Birds begin return
Filling mouths full need spurs growth
Cycles joined persist

New spirit awaits in circles we create. Unknowns begin to fade in the harsh parade, and we grasp hopes again. Isn’t ours to put away but to live and strive.

Glimpses through hazy shadows of yesterday's sobs will be replaced with clear gazes steadfast through these dangerous days.

And a shout rises under our pulse. Calling wild for revolt. Rampage against walls holding us down…

Everything Shortform invites you to take part in the 6th round of the Short Words Sentence Contest. Our fifth-round winner, Yasmin McNeill, knocked our socks off with a superb sentence and picked the set number of words for our story sentence for the next round.

Let’s get psyched for play!

Provide us with your 5-word tale telling the story of the picture above.

Challenge rules:
1) Comment, at least, on one sentence story (not your own)
2) The sentence with the most comments/claps wins, and the winner gets to pick the next round’s set word count (between 3–10 words).
3) No hate…

Creatives are looking to make money for their art and often find their writing is stolen or overlooked and not truly appreciated. Medium is not the place. Most online writing platforms are not the place to find riches for your poetry and short stories. But there is hope! Publish to independent magazines and journals.

Check out Apex Magazine to get your stories out there. Look at The Arkansas International for your stories and poetry. Have your stories broadcasted on Night Shift Radio: The Storyteller Series. Submit your fiction, poetry, essays, and book reviews to The Georgia Review.

And those are…