A Girl Called Mariah
“Where are you from?” Startled, I looked back toward the voice. I had just said goodbye to Neda and was still in the process of hanging up the phone. A blonde lady was looking at… Read More »A Girl Called Mariah
Creative Nonfiction
The Treachery
(after Renée Cox’s “Yo Mama’s Last Supper”) Renée Cox’s “Yo Mama’s Last Supper” is a full-color five panel photographic installation that features twelve men at a banquet table with the artist herself standing, nude, in… Read More »The Treachery
I Am Hungry
March 24, 2020 “I want something to eat. I want something Mommy.” It’s only one week after the NYC public schools shuttered because of the Coronavirus. We are still in complete emergency mode with no… Read More »I Am Hungry
Legacy
Slavery. Jim Crow. School-to-Prison Pipeline. Now that our mule has plowed those forty acres, let me build a little house on one corner of it. Deep addiction, like jail, distorts time. On one hand, I… Read More »Legacy
Going Mental
My therapist says it is a disability, I checked disabled. My therapist says it is a disorder, I made a list. There are seven.My therapist says I will be pushing a shopping cart down the road one day talking to… Read More »Going Mental
A Beginner’s Guide to Making Kimchi
She drives you to Busan Market in Oakland’s modest Koreatown. For your whole life, you have been a passenger on Grandma’s pilgrimages for VHS tapes of Korean soap operas and metal tubs of toasted sesame… Read More »A Beginner’s Guide to Making Kimchi
Grandfather Tree
I suspect I was a wild child. After reading Enid Blyton’s books, I renamed myself George after the lead character in her “Famous Five” series and insisted in fourth grade that everyone call me by… Read More »Grandfather Tree
Photo of Stephanie Lynn Grissom, c. 1983
The photo is black and white and warped between planner pages: March 13-19, 2017. I am guessing she is in grade school or junior high. Her face hasn’t come in yet. She is still a… Read More »Photo of Stephanie Lynn Grissom, c. 1983