A few weeks ago, I went back to my hometown with my wife — I’m trying to make sense of who I am; I’m trying to remember. I saw my grandma for the first time in two years. She has dementia and doesn’t communicate very well anymore. We sat together…

Sometimes I don’t feel quite myself or I feel so deeply myself that I can’t contain all of me in my skin. When I feel like this I want to either ride my bike, write contemplatively, or snuggle my wife. …

Somehow we lost it. We’ve lost our shit. Literally, the first time giving birth I lost my shit, and my midwife wiped my ass. She also kept me from hemorrhaging all of my blood, as I clung to my white privilege at home; but my ex-husband pressured me to have…

I went back through some Instagram stories this morning, and I realized that it’s a place I’ve stored some memories — like more than posing — I’ve been telling a story about myself for my future self. Going back three years ago, I can say that I’ve done some hard…

They tell you to write and not edit as you write. As a teacher, I repeat this nonsense, but rarely follow it myself. I mean I sort of follow it, but then I’ll edit a couple of paragraphs before moving on. Writing in school is a lot of BS, learning…

We’re reading headlines as we scroll through Facebook, avoiding the actual content because our minds have numbed-our new normal. And I am in the in-between, waiting to be released from my commitments so that I don’t have to keep doing this alone. Isolation fills me with anxiety and peace. My…

I am every person and no person. I am the one you want and the one you hate “Aren’t you worried.” “Everyone’s sets are so…this big.” “How are you gonna handle this. People get high…going to the bar.” “The craziest thing to watch.” “It’s truly like wowing.” I’m sitting at…

My name is Alana Settle, and I am the editor/creator/curator of Phoenixmoth. In 2017, I put this publication up on Medium and with the help of my friend, Jeremiah, gave it some pretty designs. Since then, it has been sitting empty. My life took some major twists and turns, and…