Instant Noodles Submissions close TODAY for:AL DENTE!
Al Dente: In cooking, pasta or risotto al dente (/ælˈdɛnteɪ/, Italian: [al ˈdɛnte]; lit. ’to the tooth’) is cooked to be firm to the bite, requiring a brief cooking time. The term also extends to firmly-cooked vegetables. In contemporary Italian cooking, it is considered to be the ideal consistency for pasta.
What does al dente mean to you? To your neighborhood vampire it probably means something different. How about to the prospector mining gold?
Send us something that you haven’t overcooked!
Submissions close TODAY: July 5, 2026; the issue publishes SEPTEMBER 1, 2026.
Every Fourth of July, Americans revisit familiar symbols: fireworks, flags, parades, and historical speeches. This year, I’d like to suggest revisiting a poem.
One of the most influential poems in American history is “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus. Written in 1883 to help raise funds for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the poem was not originally intended to become famous. In fact, it was largely forgotten for years after it was written.
Most people are surprised to learn that the poem was not originally part of the Statue of Liberty. The statue itself was a gift from France celebrating liberty and democracy. It was only in 1903, sixteen years after Lazarus’s death, that a bronze plaque bearing the poem was installed inside the pedestal.
Today, however, many readers recognize its closing lines, which have become inseparable from the monument itself:
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
Emma Lazarus
What fascinates me about “The New Colossus” is that it did something very few poems ever accomplish. It changed the way people saw a monument.
The Statue of Liberty was already standing in New York Harbor when Lazarus wrote her poem. Yet over time, her words became so closely associated with the statue that many people now think of the poem and the monument as a single work. A few lines of poetry helped shape how generations of Americans understood one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
That’s an extraordinary accomplishment for any writer.
As poets and readers, we sometimes forget how powerful language can be. Most poems will never become part of a national conversation, nor do they need to. Yet “The New Colossus” offers a reminder that poetry can leave a lasting mark on culture in unexpected ways.
I also enjoy the fact that the poem’s influence wasn’t immediate. It wasn’t a viral sensation. It wasn’t an overnight success. It spent years in relative obscurity before eventually finding its place in American history. There is something encouraging about that for writers.
As Independence Day approaches, consider taking a few minutes to read “The New Colossus.” Even if you’ve encountered those famous closing lines before, reading the entire poem offers a new appreciation for what Emma Lazarus accomplished.
More than a century later, people are still discussing her words. That’s not a bad legacy for a poem.
Do you have a favorite poem that feels especially American to you? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.
The New Colossus
BY EMMA LAZARUS
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Instant Noodles Submissions close THIS WEEK for:AL DENTE!
Al Dente: In cooking, pasta or risotto al dente (/ælˈdɛnteɪ/, Italian: [al ˈdɛnte]; lit. ’to the tooth’) is cooked to be firm to the bite, requiring a brief cooking time. The term also extends to firmly-cooked vegetables. In contemporary Italian cooking, it is considered to be the ideal consistency for pasta.
What does al dente mean to you? To your neighborhood vampire it probably means something different. How about to the prospector mining gold?
Send us something that you haven’t overcooked!
Submissions close on July 5, 2026; the issue publishes SEPTEMBER 1, 2026.
In polite conversation, unlike politics and religion, the weather is a safe topic. Love that sunshine. Do you think it’s going to snow?
The weather, however, is anything but safe. It’s lack of consistency affects all of us in one way or another. We may think it’s going to be another hot humid summer, but an unexpected chill might ruin a farmer’s crops.
From a practical standpoint, the weather impacts the type of shelter we need, our household budget and our mode of transportation. It’s an indication of our moods. Whether we are suffering through a drought or an artic blast, the weather affects our daily lives.
In polite conversation, unlike politics and religion, the weather is a safe topic. Love that sunshine. Do you think it’s going to snow?
The weather, however, is anything but safe. It’s lack of consistency affects all of us in one way or another. We may think it’s going to be another hot humid summer, but an unexpected chill might ruin a farmer’s crops.
From a practical standpoint, the weather impacts the type of shelter we need, our household budget and our mode of transportation. It’s an indication of our moods. Whether we are suffering through a drought or an artic blast, the weather affects our daily lives.
Setting, that catch all word for the description of where and when a story takes place, usually includes references to weather. A bright sun, the need for a warmer coat, parched grass are clues a writer might provide to set a scene. The mention of a light rain may seem small, but ultimately the rain in some way will impact at least one of the characters.
Depending on the narrative, a weather event may create the obstacle a character must overcome. Gale winds, high waves and rain cause a small vessel to sink and its passengers to fight for their lives. A tornado destroys someone’s home, causing them to seek shelter with family in another state and changes the trajectory of the protagonist’s future.
Last month I was reading a piece written by a writer friend and I was reminded that something as basic as a winter storm, can become a character. How strongly setting interacts with the various protagonists in a narrative is the writer’s choice. Anything—A animal, vegetable or mineral—can become a component of a well-crafted story.
While many discussions of the story focus on the protagonist’s arrogance and his inability to fully comprehend his limitations, it is the cold weather that serves as his antagonist. The dog understands the situation, but must follow his master’s lead.
A reader unfamiliar with survival in extreme weather may assume the human will have the upper hand. Gradually as the story unfolds, the power of the artic is revealed.
My dog Chloe enjoying the snow.
In the twenty-first century, humans are faced with new challenges. Survival on a rapidly warming planet is the subject of climate fiction titles that include Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson, and Weather by Jenny Offill. Weather has inspired many best-selling novels.
But maybe as a writer you’d like to start small. A piece of flash fiction, where the weather plays a strong role in the storyline, can make for a compelling read.
Most likely, if you’ve been writing for a while, you already think about setting, tone and mood when you begin writing a scene. I used to participate in theater productions both onstage and backstage. I remember the director choosing different lighting combinations, using colored gels to cover the spotlights, to emphasize the emotional tone of a scene. Yellow and orange were associated with warmth and happiness while the color green denotes nature and serenity. Red might be used to amplify the intensity of a fight scene.
Imagine a day in someone’s life. What kind of day is it? What color would you associate with this day? Imagine the weather and focus on one part of the day. Perhaps it is the morning of a warm summer’s day, a day that heat and humidity will build in intensity, lightening will flash, thunder will sound and a heavy rain will follow. What role does this thunderstorm play in your story?
Imagine a different kind of day, a brisk but sunny day. Maybe the main character has been too cold to leave their home, but the beauty of the day entices them to step outside.
Or take the concept of “To Build a Fire” but substitute the fire with something else. Maybe the protagonist is trying to set up a tent but the wind is blowing too hard. Or inspired by the summer conditions in europe write about an individual without air-conditioning trying to survive in extreme heat. Create a weather-related challenge and see if the protagonist can solve the problem.
Writers if you have a story you are working on, read it with a particular thought towards how the environment in your setting helps convey the mood. I close with a link to a story I wrote a few years ago called “Winter Solstice” on page 8 of the pdf. Courtesy of Atlantic Northeast Magazine. I chose the setting of a small cabin on a Maine lake in winter to emphasize the chill and isolation felt by the protagonist who is valiantly trying to buoy his spirits. Weather is a useful tool. Use it wisely.
Thank you for reading and feel free to share your comments and any questions. Don’t forget to follow Old Scratch Press on Facebook. Every few days we post blogs and share writing news. You can learn about all the wonderful little books we’ve published here.
If you enjoyed this post and want to support my writing, consider purchasing my little chapbook filled with short essays and poems, RECIPES FROM MY GARDEN and check out some of my other books. Thanks again.
Banned books week isn’t until October, but for LBGTQ authors, every week is banned books week because their works are banned disproportionately more than any others. Books that touch upon LBGTQ themes are challenged more often and these attacks are increasingly coming from “pressure groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members and administrators” according to the American Library Association.
“ In 2025, ALA tracked 4,235 unique title challenges—the second highest ever documented by ALA. Of these titles, nearly 40% represent the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people and people of color. Of the 11 most targeted books last year, four were challenged on the basis of their LGBTQ+ content.”
Public libraries try to circumvent the bans by shifting books with LBGTQ themes to the adult collections, if possible, but that is just a bandaid compromise.
LBGTQ authors are concerned about children like themselves growing up and encountering no role models they can relate to in their reading. Children who encounter characters like themselves as the heroes and heroines in books can derive inspiration, pride, courage and solace from them.
This article is a comprehensive overview of the past and current state of book banning in our country.
It has a map showing banning activity in each state.
“The book bans that have accumulated in the past four years are unprecedented and undeniable. This report looks back at the 2024-2025 school year – the fourth school year in the contemporary campaign to ban books – and illustrates the continued attacks on books, stories, identities, and histories. “
And don’t forget to
READ
Throughout history and spanning cultures, the rainbow has symbolized hope, unity, connection, peace and equality–so this Pride month, try reading through rainbow-colored lenses!
Maybe it was the billboards promising paradise, maybe those fifty-nine miles with your hand in mine, maybe my sexy roadster, the top down, maybe the wind fingering your hair, sun on your thighs and bare chest, maybe it was just the ride over the sea split in two by the highway to Key Largo, or the idea of Key Largo. Maybe I was finally in the right place at the right time with the right person. Maybe there’d finally be a house, a dog named Chu, a lawn to mow, neighbors, dinner parties, and you forever obsessed with crossword puzzles and Carl Young, reading in the dark by the moonlight, at my bedside every night. Maybe. Maybe it was the clouds paused at the horizon, the blinding fields of golden sawgrass, the mangrove islands tangled, inseparable as we might be. Maybe I should’ve said something, promised you something, asked you to stay a while, maybe.
AL DENTE In cooking, pasta or risotto al dente (/ælˈdɛnteɪ/, Italian: [al ˈdɛnte]; lit. ’to the tooth’) is cooked to be firm to the bite, requiring a brief cooking time. The term also extends to firmly-cooked vegetables. In contemporary Italian cooking, it is considered to be the ideal consistency for pasta.
What does al dente mean to you? To your neighborhood vampire it probably means something different. How about to the prospector mining gold?
Send us something that you haven’t overcooked!
Submissions close on July 5, 2026; the issue publishes SEPTEMBER 1, 2026.
READ ONE OF OUR MEMBERS’ LATEST POETRY COLLECTION:
Every June, Pride Month invites us to celebrate the LGBTQ community, but it also offers an opportunity to remember the writers who came before us. Long before rainbow flags appeared in storefronts and city parades filled the streets, LGBTQ writers were telling their stories, often at considerable personal risk.
For much of recorded history, openly writing about same-sex relationships or gender identity could result in social ostracism, censorship, imprisonment, or worse. As a result, many writers learned to communicate indirectly. They hid meaning in metaphor, coded language, and carefully crafted characters whose experiences reflected realities that could not be openly discussed.
Yet the stories persisted.
Ancient poets such as Sappho, writing on the Greek island of Lesbos more than 2,500 years ago, created works that expressed love between women with remarkable honesty and beauty. Centuries later, writers including Walt Whitman explored themes of affection, companionship, and identity that continue to inspire readers and scholars today.
The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw LGBTQ themes emerge more visibly in literature, though often behind a veil. Writers such as Oscar Wilde challenged social norms through wit, satire, and storytelling, while others concealed their identities entirely to protect themselves and their careers.
The twentieth century brought both tragedy and progress. Books dealing openly with LGBTQ experiences were frequently banned, challenged, or removed from shelves. At the same time, courageous authors continued to publish stories that reflected lives rarely represented in mainstream literature. Works by writers such as James Baldwin, Rita Mae Brown, Armistead Maupin, Audre Lorde, and many others helped expand the literary landscape and offered readers the powerful experience of seeing themselves on the page.
Today, LGBTQ literature spans every genre imaginable. Romance, horror, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, memoir, poetry, and children’s books all contain stories written by and about LGBTQ individuals. Readers can find characters whose identities are central to the story, as well as characters whose identities are simply one aspect of richly developed lives.
That may be one of the most important developments of all.
Representation matters, but so does normalization. LGBTQ characters no longer exist only to explain themselves or justify their place in the world. They can be heroes, villains, detectives, astronauts, poets, parents, dragonslayers, and everything in between.
Literature has always been one of humanity’s most powerful tools for understanding one another. Stories allow us to step into lives different from our own and discover shared hopes, fears, joys, and struggles.
This Pride Month, we celebrate not only LGBTQ writers, but the generations of storytellers who continued writing when doing so was difficult, dangerous, or unpopular. Their work expanded the literary world for everyone who came after.
And because of them, more voices than ever are able to tell their stories openly, honestly, and proudly.
Happy Pride Month!
What’s your favorite LGBTQ-authored book? Mine is Tales of the City! In the 90s PBS (I think) made it into a mini series and I loved that too.
🙂
Dianne
OSP is part of CWP, which is a member of the Safe Space Alliance.
Hey there authors, have you submitted yet to Instant Noodles Volume 6 Issue 2:AL DENTE?
Al Dente: In cooking, pasta or risotto al dente (/ælˈdɛnteɪ/, Italian: [al ˈdɛnte]; lit. ’to the tooth’) is cooked to be firm to the bite, requiring a brief cooking time. The term also extends to firmly-cooked vegetables. In contemporary Italian cooking, it is considered to be the ideal consistency for pasta.
What does al dente mean to you? To your neighborhood vampire it probably means something different. How about to the prospector mining gold?
Send us something that you haven’t overcooked!
Submissions close on July 5, 2026; the issue publishes SEPTEMBER 1, 2026.
June, the start of summer and the month of graduations and weddings has begun. It’s a month of beginnings and endings.
I’m someone who likes to plan ahead, particularly if gift giving is involved. The holidays this month are Flag Day, Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and Summer Solstice.
This year Father’s Day falls on Sunday June 21st. I’ve been hearing advertisements for barbecue grills, power tools, personalized mugs.
But Father’s Day isn’t a day that has to be just about your father or the father of your children. And it doesn’t have to involve giving expensive items. It can be a good time to recognize the men in your life who have inspired you, as well as male friends and neighbors who have been helpful and caring.
As for gifts, the best gift is often a phone call, a card, the gift of time. From a writer, the best gift can be a story or poem.
Do not wait until the day before Father’s Day. I always find that my best work needs to sit for a while and undergo revisions before it is ready to be shared.
How to start. Everyone has their own technique. If I am writing a poem specifically to laud someone, I usually begin by listing everything about them I admire. We all notice different things. Details are important.
Or you can share an important memory and write it in prose or in verse. It can be serious or funny. Make someone laugh and you are halfway to penning something they’ll treasure.
You are writing your piece for one person. It does not have to be a masterpiece. One poet, who was popular in his time, was widely published in newspapers. His name was Edgar Guest and he was an English poet who lived a long life, 1881-1959. His poems definitely make me laugh. Here are two.
Father
By Edgar Guest
My father knows the proper way The nation should be run; He tells us children every day Just what should now be done. He knows the way to fix the trusts, He has a simple plan; But if the furnace needs repairs, We have to hire a man.
My father, in a day or two Could land big thieves in jail; There's nothing that he cannot do, He knows no word like "fail." "Our confidence" he would restore, Of that there is no doubt; But if there is a chair to mend, We have to send it out.
All public questions that arise, He settles on the spot; He waits not till the tumult dies, But grabs it while it's hot. In matters of finance he can Tell Congress what to do; But, O, he finds it hard to meet His bills as they fall due.
It almost makes him sick to read The things law-makers say; Why, father's just the man they need, He never goes astray. All wars he'd very quickly end, As fast as I can write it; But when a neighbor starts a fuss, 'Tis mother has to fight it.
In conversation father can Do many wondrous things; He's built upon a wiser plan Than presidents or kings. He knows the ins and outs of each And every deep transaction; We look to him for theories, But look to ma for action.
Only a Dad
By Edgar Guest
Only a dad with a tired face, Coming home from the daily race, Bringing little of gold or fame To show how well he has played the game; But glad in his heart that his own rejoice To see him come and to hear his voice.
Only a dad with a brood of four, One of ten million men or more Plodding along in the daily strife, Bearing the whips and the scorns of life, With never a whimper of pain or hate, For the sake of those who at home await.
Only a dad, neither rich nor proud, Merely one of the surging crowd Toiling, striving from day to day, Facing whatever may come his way, Silent whenever the harsh condemn, And bearing it all for the love of them.
Only a dad but he gives his all To smooth the way for his children small, Doing with courage stern and grim, The deeds that his father did for him. This is the line that for him I pen: Only a dad, but the best of men.
The famous English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806-1861, was encouraged by her father to write poetry, and thus it is no surprise that she wrote poems especially for him. Here is one penned for his birthday.
To My Father on His Birthday
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Amidst the days of pleasant mirth, That throw their halo round our earth; Amidst the tender thoughts that rise To call bright tears to happy eyes; Amidst the silken words that move To syllable the names we love; There glides no day of gentle bliss More soothing to the heart than this! No thoughts of fondness e’er appear More fond, than those I write of here! No name can e’er on tablet shine, My father! more beloved than thine! ‘Tis sweet, adown the shady past, A lingering look of love to cast— Back th’ enchanted world to call, That beamed around us first of all; And walk with Memory fondly o’er The paths where Hope had been before— Sweet to receive the sylphic sound That breathes in tenderness around, Repeating to the listening ear The names that made our childhood dear— For parted Joy, like Echo, kind, Will leave her dulcet voice behind, To tell, amidst the magic air, How oft she smiled and lingered there.
Now it is time to write a poem or story of your own, in your style.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning may not be your style. The birthday poem to her dad was written when she was 20 years old. It captures her feelings at the time and was published in her 1826 poetry collection. Eventually she and her father had a falling out. He disowned her when she married the poet, Robert Browning.
Sometimes the memory or experience of something special, can help to inspire you. Remember you are writing for just one person, or maybe in this case two people, yourself and the recipient. Let your ideas flow and don’t start editing until you’ve written down all your thoughts.
If you’d like to create a card and a poem at the same time, here is a prompt on how to create Collage Poems. Whatever you come up with, if you consider it successful in capturing the essence of your dad, check out this opportunity to be published in the upcoming issue of Instant Noodles Literary Magazine,
Hey there authors, have you submitted yet to Instant Noodles Volume 6 Issue 2:AL DENTE?
Al Dente: In cooking, pasta or risotto al dente (/ælˈdɛnteɪ/, Italian: [al ˈdɛnte]; lit. ’to the tooth’) is cooked to be firm to the bite, requiring a brief cooking time. The term also extends to firmly-cooked vegetables. In contemporary Italian cooking, it is considered to be the ideal consistency for pasta.
What does al dente mean to you? To your neighborhood vampire it probably means something different. How about to the prospector mining gold?
Send us something that you haven’t overcooked!
Submissions close on July 5, 2026; the issue publishes SEPTEMBER 1, 2026.
Hey there authors, have you submitted yet to Instant Noodles Volume 6 Issue 2:AL DENTE?
Al Dente: In cooking, pasta or risotto al dente (/ælˈdɛnteɪ/, Italian: [al ˈdɛnte]; lit. ’to the tooth’) is cooked to be firm to the bite, requiring a brief cooking time. The term also extends to firmly-cooked vegetables. In contemporary Italian cooking, it is considered to be the ideal consistency for pasta.
What does al dente mean to you? To your neighborhood vampire it probably means something different. How about to the prospector mining gold?
Send us something that you haven’t overcooked!
Submissions close on July 5, 2026; the issue publishes SEPTEMBER 1, 2026.
