With a wire scoop ladle, Magdalena fished golden-brown four-pointed stars out of the simmering oil. This time it didn’t matter that the crab rangoons were Pinterest-imperfect. After setting the bowl onto the table, she popped one into her mouth and gasped. Too much red pepper flakes. She double-checked the recipe. Teaspoon, not tablespoon. “Julio, don’t…

Today we march as free men not yet freed, as citizens separated from citizenship, moving from shadows of shackled feet from shores where slave ships emptied cattle and Black men; chattels of undifferentiated dignity. Today we march for America to embrace a dream as truth that All men are created equal, where All are welcomed…

This wacked-out little finger? It was third grade, he was Melvin, she was Irene, and I was in the way. To Melvin I was. Nobody asked Irene. Irene had dark eyes, raven hair, a quiet smile. Melvin wanted to see me at recess to bend my fingers backward. I didn’t know that’s what he wanted…

How then the gloaming times grown dark and drear When all birds sung their song a time ago What majesty reduced to something tears Where others feared their passages unknown Who loves in times foreshadowed bleak as these Unchanged forever in their showing screened Why mysteries unfold more mysteries Still your eternal summer shines as…

Happy Lunar New Year to all of you, I hope all of your dreams come true. But down to business. We are going up again, so You can write a haiku Or you can write a piece that is exactly 100 words long Or you can write a piece that is exactly 1555 words long,…

Caleb clutches his mother’s leg. With the clash, crash, and boom of brass gong, cymbals, and drum, the white lion dances closer. Its head whips out at the circling crowd. His mother’s outstretched hand holding a folded dollar bill disappears into the lion’s gaping maw. Eyes shut, Caleb screams into his mother’s thigh. A hand…