The feeling of shame that comes with the territory of being a monolingual second-generation immigrant is probably a familiar one to those with parents who, by comparison, can flit between three different languages in just one conversation. It’s one I’ve found increasingly tricky to navigate as I’ve grown older, and, as someone who also happens…

Today I sit in my room and wonder why, how, the world depleted itself into a medical chaos. I walk between the walls of a house only. Every day I wake-up and I want a new life. Daddy Dear took us to road trips every year, especially in summers. We packed fruits, utensils and water…

Yenny met him at the bodega on the corner of 190th street and Grand Avenue. He was the only other person in the place besides the cashier—who was distracted by the Yankees game playing on a small TV in the front of the shop—and she could tell immediately that he wasn’t from the Bronx. He…

** This piece was first published on Rewrite Reads**  As I think back to how I viewed my dad when I was a kid, I remember he seemed to me to be as majestic and intimidating as a Canadian Sequoia. I knew for sure at that tender age that he was the tallest, strongest, oldest…

I.  “This is a real kiss.”   He planted his hands firmly on my shoulders, and pressed against me. Instantly, he was so much bigger than me. His lips engulfed mine, his hands lion paws atop my sinewy shoulders. He grew inches, then feet, then yards over me. His mouth was cool from the Blistex I…

According to a Korean folktale, a long time ago in a heavenly kingdom, there lived a talented weaver, the daughter of the heavenly king. One day, the weaver gazed out of the window while weaving and happened to see a handsome herder (hereafter known as “the herdboy”) across the Milky Way — and soon enough,…

When we got to El Teatro Campesino, the performance of the Popol Vuh for that night had been canceled. Something was going on with the stage lights. The woman in the box office looked at me like she was scared of me. I’m not used to getting that kind of look. You could tell that…

The savory smell of Grandma Lulu’s roasted pork and rosemary potatoes drifted into the living room as Wheel of Fortune played on the television. Riley sat worrying about what might happen if he went back to mom and dad’s house. So he captured the scent in a jar and hoped it’d last forever. Zach Murphy…