Author: themuseumofamericana

Child from the Cloth Womb, by Gregory Stapp           —on 18th century obstetric models of womb and fetus you were made to be borna bolt of clothstitched into shape by needle and threadby the hand and lap of two virgin mothersin canvas by your muslin skin pulled tautand tucked into corners sewn into posepositioned to emergefrom … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

Mother of Dada, by Linda Scheller            Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874-1927) barbed wire corsetcarburetor vase a woman of influencestrides Greenwich Villagehalf-nakedwith a coal scuttle on her head frightened men and scandalized womengape and sneer and laugh Ah, but Marcel, isn’t it true?Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. embrace uglinessflaunt desire any and all cast-off … Continue reading Americana Stories—Poetry

Coming Home—Thomas Johnson Miller went back to the bar after his discharge from the Army. Going home excited him with memories of his friends sitting around a table filled with pitchers of beer. He enlisted in the Army two years after he graduated the university and he did not return until his hitch ended. His … Continue reading Americana Stories: Prose

Saga of Mike Fink—Thomas Piekarski Some of you baby boomers may well remember when Disney gave us Boone and Davy Crockett portrayed by the faithful and fearless Fess Parker. Many a boy back in the day wore a coonskin cap and buckskin suit with his eyes glued to the TV. Nobody could outshoot nor outsmart … Continue reading Americana Stories: Poetry

Family Legend—Cassandra Whitaker Great great great great uncle once wore a dress to upend the union supplies around the swamps of Vicksburg, what he saw as the wolf lurking in his pasture. When the story is told, it is/a joke, the dress, my uncle/wearing a woman to out/do and out do./ How funny the union/troops, … Continue reading Americana Stories: Poetry

ON THE OCCASION OF TRACEY’S 54th BIRTHDAY, AND THE 175th BIRTHDAY OF SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN—Kim Roberts     “The most popular words used in the pages of Scientific American are displayed here by     frequency, from 1845 through 2020…Each year is represented by a single word, selected     through a text-analysis project that started with all 5,107 … Continue reading Americana Stories Web Feature: Poetry

The Aquanaut—Fiction by Francis Felix Rosa Nightmarish shades of darkening blue cascaded into one another, moving continuously downward. The slosh of ocean clanged through iron girders, creating a bedroom echo in the corrugated steel cabin, like a leaky faucet. Crayola-colored fins, sparked outside the porthole beside blankets, shag carpeting, and stuffed toys in their jellyfish … Continue reading Americana Stories Web Feature: Prose

Elliot’s Story—Fiction by S. Blair Jockers Looking back, I realize I had a serious crush on Joe. People didn’t think that way in 1949, but I should have figured it out the day he told me he was leaving Pensacola as soon as his enlistment was up at the end of the year. “I’m sick … Continue reading Americana Stories Web Feature: Prose

Sometimes We Just Want History to Repeat—Karen Paul Holmes One of the last times Father managed to stand in the kitchen    to chop and to stir his Macedonian Bean Soup,   we captured notes on paper now tomato-stained. The five of us keep trying to recreate him. If Brother has added enough red chili flakes … Continue reading Americana Stories Web Feature: Poetry

The Songster and the Horses—a Hollywood Elegy with Cocaine—Fiction by Nick Sweeney Bass-fiddler-about-town Edvald Ebert found the place at a crossroads off Glendale, a mansion going for a song. “Which song?” songster-at-large Stephen thought out loud. He forgot that Ebert always answered rhetorical questions. Didn’t Americans know you weren’t supposed to do that? Ebert: “If … Continue reading Americana Stories Web Feature: Prose