Author: laurenalwan

Suppers at The Sampler Inn, Ocean Grove, by Susanna Rich The cafeteria queue is a long necklace of headswending down its creaky porch,down the slate block, around the corner—hundreds of us de-sanded in outdoor showers,wet hair slicked or rubber banded,straps misaligned over bathing suit marks,and Hawaiian maomaos, madras plaid jackets,canes, tight blue-tinted perms. Grandmother Mumchy, … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

Embedded, by Pamela Annas Gaia prowls the supermarket aisles.A hijab frames her face.  She is all of usin jeans and flip flops, a baseball cap, a sari,a dark blue business suit and red shoes.Her heels click on the linoleum. The three year old in the jump seat wants licorice.Gaia remembers dancing the quickstepdown an empty … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

Bread, by Laurie Kuntz How many grandmothers in the regions of memory baked bread,their hands wrinkled white, made soft by the fine sift of flour,their aprons smelling of leavened dough and their bosoms warmwith the rise of all that keeps a family from hunger. And now, it is bread we resist, an empty starch,we don’t … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

I Still Think of Edward Hopper From The Mornings At The Beach, by Sher Ting ____________ Sher Ting is a Singaporean-Chinese writer with work published or forthcoming in Prairie Schooner, Pleiades, Gulf Coast, and Colorado Review. Her debut chapbook, Bodies of Separation, is published with Cathexis Northwest Press, and her second chapbook, The Long-Lasting Grief … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

rockaway beach, by Meera Rothman the morning we finally go to rockaway beachwe will swim with the ghosts of our fathers you firstdiving headlong into the bluefearless, like dadlike you were birthed here tooyour shoulders plowing through the wavesfreckled and sunkissed, dad’s grinon your teeth, the same green eyes. you will say it’s your lifeguard … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

My Nevada, by Michael DuBon Michael DuBon_My NevadaDownload Michael DuBon is a first-generation US citizen of Guatemalan descent. His poetry has appeared in Rising Phoenix Review and others, and his essays have appeared in The Plentitudes and Heartwood. At his most natural, he is laughing and smiling like no one is watching—because he’s usually by … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

American Gothic—Talia Pinzari Painted by Grant Wood in 1930, American Gothic is featured in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. It depicts a farmer standing beside his daughter—often assumed,mistakenly, to be his wife.   He’s your midwestern father, a handyman with a head bald as the knee he took to spread mulch this morning and a … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

Two Poems by Michael Hettich Listen to Song, here Listen to The Field here. Song I was living that year in another sort of body, when she came down the stairs singing a song I hadn’t heard before but somehow recognized, so I tried to sing along. She stood there before me as the crows … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

Learning the "Green Light" from My Son, by Robert Fillman Listen here: Up by seven runs, 3-0 count,and Fernando Tatis Jr.pretends he doesn't see the signto take, decides to swing away,loops one to the opposite fieldthat just clears the fence, a grand slam. But he's met with jeers from teammates,public scolding from his skipper,opposing manager … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

Knocked Down But Not Out: Plaster, Drywall, and American DIY, by Michael Ward Planning a child’s nursery is like planning a funeral. Rarely is either undertaken with the express wishes of its guest of honor. The baby is unable to offer its opinion on which paint colors—for example, white gallery, Greek villa, or snowball—better captures … Continue reading Americana Stories—Nonfiction