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Holographic Angel

by Barbara Harsh

Long octopus legs, gradually accelerating venom
     Released from the holographic glow like a long awakening
     to the heart of your unnamed torture.

Move forward. No permission required. Set free from the madness
     Masked as an angel.

Anger and venom, sharp and silent. Spits at the one with elephant
     memory. Witness to the dramas, lies and stories. A vortex we orbit.
Fear is the shadowy substance spun invisibly. Cures are illusions. The
illness is not in us.

Drama sustained without cause through sheer will and loud voices that
     leave the smell of fear everywhere.
     Relentless shards remain. Too many weepless hours endured.

Bitter the lessons. Lost, losses, good-byes.
     Story shards removed one by one.

Centuries of story fold into moments
     The storyteller was innocent, only another sliver woven.

The tapestry of truth unveils the story and opens the heart.
Joy laughter loudly spills, finishing the story as illusion. Knowing the
Journey was love finding itself.

Who We Are

Military Experience and the Arts, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose primary mission is to work with veterans and their families to publish short stories, essays, poems, and artwork in our biannual publication, As You Were: The Military Review, periodic editions of Blue Nostalgia: The Journal of Post-Traumatic Growth and others. To the best of our ability, we pair each author or poet that submits work to us with a mentor to work one-on-one to polish their work or learn new skills and techniques.

Our staff is based all over the country and includes college professors, professional authors, veterans’ advocates, and clinicians. As such, most of our services are provided through email and online writing workshops.

All editing, consultations, and workshops are free of charge. Veterans and their families pay nothing for our services, and they never will.

Under our Publications tab, there are more than two dozen volumes of creative work crafted by veterans and their family members as well as a virtual art gallery. Our blog posts feature short pieces that cover a wide range of opinion editorials, literary reviews, and profiles on veteran artists and writers.

Please consider spending some time navigating our site and reading and seeing the fine work of veterans and their families from around the globe.

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