I get it now In ways I couldn't before The unsettling of The messy middle That lingering urge To get in the car alone And just keep driving The longing For something unclear Out of focus Or just out of reach The sense of loneliness Even while surrounded By so much love So much humanity … Continue reading A Letter to my mom (or Women on the Verge of a Midlife Crisis)
Author: Alissa Burnett
AVAILABLE NOW: Perfect Flawed Dreams (a collection of poetry)
During the Fall of 2022, on a whim (inspired by a Facebook ad), I registered for a poetry challenge. I had to write 21 poems in 21 days and they would be published into a book. In many ways, poetry was my first creative writing outlet, dating back to my high school years. More recently, … Continue reading AVAILABLE NOW: Perfect Flawed Dreams (a collection of poetry)
Movie Star Mom
It was a lazy summer vacation day, and I was lounging in bed at the Airbnb we had rented in my favourite Ontario vacation destination: Prince Edward County. As I was scrolling through Facebook, an ad from Narcity, a local culture blog, caught my eye. Apparently, they were filming a scene for an upcoming movie … Continue reading Movie Star Mom
20 Minutes: My First Job
My first job was at the pharmacy where my dad worked. My dad is a quiet, kind man who did whatever possible to care for his patients. He even took calls after-hours, driving the 15 minutes to meet a patient - if it was urgent. His pharmacy also accepted their own form of internal credit, … Continue reading 20 Minutes: My First Job
Mini-Slice: Kitchen Hockey
Inspired by my daily writing challenge around "a funny incident." My mom didn’t iron. And I have absolutely followed in her footsteps. As children, we went shopping. A lot. In fact, it was likely my mom’s biggest hobby – happily taking a mini road trip the 45-60 minutes to get to a mall and browsing … Continue reading Mini-Slice: Kitchen Hockey
Lost & Found
Inspired by the first story featured on The Moth Radio Hour, May 23, 2023, which addressed a different – and much more valuable – musical item that was lost and later recovered. We were off on an adventure. Leaving our 4 kids for 1 glorious, adult-only, overnight in Canandaigua, NY. Driving roughly 4 hours to … Continue reading Lost & Found
Mini-Slice: Red Pleather
Inspired by my 20-minute writing exercise around "an embarrassment." After I finished my university years in Madison, Wisconsin, I relocated to the San Francisco Bay area to start my first job. It was a time of firsts. Of growing up and adventure – but also of loneliness and feeling untethered. Developing independence is a necessary … Continue reading Mini-Slice: Red Pleather
Mini-Slice: My 14-Year-Old Little Girl
My daughter, Emaline, is fourteen years and 5 months old today. She is a smart, healthy, 9th grader. Honestly, high school has been a breeze as compared with the transition to middle school. Augmented by the ongoing pandemic and the desperate desire to feel alive and push boundaries, she and her friends made some unwise … Continue reading Mini-Slice: My 14-Year-Old Little Girl
Mini-Slice: Friends-giving
Inspired by my 20-minute writing exercise around a "memorable holiday." Friends-giving. This is a term that has been adopted by the masses but especially those celebrating a harvest holiday either in a new place or seeking ways to build their own traditions, with a chosen family. When we first relocated to Toronto, Ontario, we learned … Continue reading Mini-Slice: Friends-giving
20 Minutes (or so): A Most Memorable Holiday
For the purposes of this writing exercise, I’m choosing to interpret “holiday” as a vacation v. a day of celebration. And while longer, I didn't feel this piece had enough stakes to qualify as a true Moth-style story or even a Mini-Slice. It was the lead-up to the celebration of our 10th anniversary and we … Continue reading 20 Minutes (or so): A Most Memorable Holiday
The [Unofficial] Moth Blog 