Marci Ameluxen was born and raised in Washington State, where she still lives. For most of her life she has lived on islands in the Puget Sound region. When not writing poetry she works as a pediatric Occupational Therapist. Her poems have appeared in The Comstock Review, The Dirty Napkin, Hospital Drive, and Literary Mama, and she received 3rd Prize in the 2005 Hackney Literary Awards. Marci has completed a chapbook about growing up with a schizophrenic mother, of which “Her Purse” is an excerpt.