Dissonance Personified

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Holiday Ghosts
Growing up, I always wished I had an older brother—someone to guide and teach me. I was the oldest of my biological siblings, and that role fell to me…
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Stan Lake
8
Busy Hands
I have two speeds. It’s either manic or panic. This has been the rhythm of my life for as long as I can remember. I’m either frantically energetic and…
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Stan Lake
11
Dirty Mirrors
I dreamt about the war again last night. It wasn’t traumatic this time. It was just weird. It was dustier than I remembered. I was in the right place…
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Stan Lake
13
It Used to Be Colder
A thought captures me. I keep coming back to it. I must have been in fourth or fifth grade. It was somewhere between Halloween and Christmas, and I was…
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Stan Lake
4
The Things They Carried
A few weeks back, in the veteran’s expression writing group I was a part of, we were given a prompt based on Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They…
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Stan Lake
13
Through Being Cool
Last Sunday night, I found myself amid a sea of forty-somethings standing shoulder to shoulder, awaiting the magic that was sure to come. The lights…
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Stan Lake
8
Amphibious Transition
Transition is a buzzword in the military and veteran community. When you leave the service and become a veteran, you trade one life for another. Some…
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Stan Lake
9
Return To Base
I’ve written quite a few words in a feeble attempt to explain the week I’ve had. Still, I can’t find adequate language to explain how I feel and how…
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Stan Lake
22
Threshold
The mountain grew taller as I ambled my way past house-sized boulders. This trail was leading me somewhere eternal. I wasn’t seeking a cliffside vista…
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Stan Lake
14
Dissonance Personified
Dissonance Personified
Dissonance Personified is a substack about fickle faith, frogs, war, and the static that comes from figuring it out as you go.
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