We don’t talk about what we see. Not really. We joke, we deflect, we survive. But The Quiet After the Sirens is about what happens when the silence breaks.
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Walking Through Fire: A Warrior’s Reflection for Mental Health Awareness Month
The first of May rises not just with spring’s fragile bloom but with the tremble of a war drum echoing deep within my chest. Today marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month, and for those like me—those who wear their wounds beneath the skin …
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The Capitol’s Pages: Book Banning in Our Modern Panem
“Book banning is control disguised as protection. From the Index to today’s laws, the fight for FREADom is a battle for every generation.”
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The House of Glass — Memoir Opening Scene
A house built of glass, fragile as my childhood. Cracks spread with every argument, shaping the person I’d become. This is where my story begins.
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“Her Final Breath, My Last Choice”
On April 20th, five years ago, I had to make the most painful decision of my life—from a Zoom call. My sister was dying, and I was her healthcare proxy. While my mother and niece sat at her bedside, I gave the word to let her go. That moment changed me forever. I carry it into every EMS shift, every sleepless night, and every word I write. Today, I remember her—not as the woman we lost, but as my sister. The one I tried to save, even from a distance. The Quiet After the Sirens began with her silence.
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The Quiet After the Call
There’s a silence most people never hear.
It’s not peace—it’s the sound after the sirens, when the adrenaline fades and the ghosts start talking.
After years in the military, fire service, and EMS, I came to know that silence too well. It isn’t quiet. It’s noise turned inward.
In that space, the heart races, the mind replays trauma, and the spirit aches under the weight of it all.
Crowded rooms became unbearable. Joy felt dangerous. And I couldn’t sit still without my hands shaking.
But healing began when I finally stopped running and listened to that silence. I learned to name the things I feared. I started writing again.
This memoir, The Quiet After the Sirens, is a testament to survival—not just in the field, but in the stillness that follows.
It’s about carrying the weight, honoring the ghosts, and learning how to breathe again.
If you’ve ever known that kind of silence, this story is for you too.
📝 NaPoWriMo Day 8: Ghazal – A Love Song
Today’s prompt was to try writing a ghazal, a traditional poetic form often used for love poems. Each couplet must stand on its own while repeating a refrain.
Read MoreWe Played Terribly
By @RWhiteAuthor Day 5 of NaPoWriMo prompt is inspired by musical notation, and particularly those little italicized –and often Italian – instructions you’ll find over the staves in sheet music, like con allegro or andante. First, pick a notation from the first column below. Then, pick …
Read More“The Painting by the Window”
By @RWhiteAuthor Today’s (optional) prompt. In her poem, “Living with a Painting,” Denise Levertov describes just that. And well, that’s a pretty universal experience, isn’t it? It’s the rare human structure – be it a bedroom, kitchen, dentist’s office, or classroom – that doesn’t have art …
Read MoreWhy I Am Not a Painter
By @RWhiteAuthor Day 3 Prompt: The American poet Frank O’Hara was an art critic and friend to numerous painters and poets In New York City in the 1950s and 60s. His poems feature a breezy, funny, conversational style. His poem “Why I Am Not a Painter” is …
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