This Land by Chloe DeFilippis
“This Land” by Chloe DeFilippis On a farm in Lakewood, New Jersey, my father, a little boy, visits his paternal grandparents. They are immigrants, speaking broken English to the family and yelling Italian commands at the dogs. Their land is filled with food: watermelons, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, chickens, rabbits, and a goat or two. My father runs...
Manifest Destiny by Kirin McCrory
“Manifest Destiny” by Kirin McCrory It is Man’s natural state to expand his boundaries past the land that has been granted him by the immediate moment. Give a man an acre and he will fill it, and want two. Give him two and he will break those, and need three. It is the nature of Man to bound and be boundless, and the West seemed...
Blackbirds by Karen Heuler
“Blackbirds” by Karen Heuler When my grandparents immigrated, they were very poor and lived for a time near a park with some of their children (it would be years before the whole family could be together). My grandfather went to the park at evening to catch blackbirds for dinner. I guess they ate blackbirds where he came from and it was...
The Refugee by Julie Christine Johnson
“The Refugee” by Julie Christine Johnson 1 used lifejacket 1 passport 1 sunhat Toothbrush Comb Seasickness tablets 200 Euros 200 Turkish liras Three multi-packets of cigarettes With this, and the clothing he wears, he leaves a broken city whose name meant copper in a language time has long since melted down and reshaped. The man’s name, the one thing he carries that no one can steal, is Radwan. ~ 1 eiderdown...
Raqqa, Syria to Crete by Susan Shaw Sailer
“Raqqa, Syria to Crete” by Susan Shaw Sailer Doah’s 19, Syrian, working in Egypt all human beings are born free her own town bombed out and equal in dignity and rights Egypt doesn’t want her they are endowed tries to kidnap and send her back with reason and conscience Decides to go to Europe and should act toward one another pays $2000 for a spot on a fishing boat meant for...