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Author Headshot

First Place: K. Vaghela

May 17, 2021/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2021 / K. Vaghela

How does one mourn
a not-dead, a once-here-but
not here?

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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/K.-Vaghela-Headshot-scaled-1.jpeg 2560 2023 K. Vaghela https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png K. Vaghela2021-05-17 10:47:172021-06-16 15:46:19First Place: K. Vaghela
Author Headshot

Second Place: Mai Serhan

May 17, 2021/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2021 / Mai Serhan

I make an offering,
mango crescents,
powdered moon,
dipped one in dusk,

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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Mai-Serhan-Headshot-scaled-1.jpg 2560 1707 Mai Serhan https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Mai Serhan2021-05-17 10:47:072021-06-16 15:44:31Second Place: Mai Serhan
Author Headshot

Third Place: Rich Pagano

May 17, 2021/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2021 / Rich Pagano

Songs of morning doves
revealed during the lockdown.

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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/RGPagano-Headshot.jpg 2422 1582 Rich Pagano https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Rich Pagano2021-05-17 10:46:262021-06-16 15:44:59Third Place: Rich Pagano

Sky Ghost

April 28, 2020/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2020 / Fiona H

Words like vapour from skies redeemed

Enchanted from the start

The nectarous rill of romance.

A perfect Magic.

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sound hour

March 12, 2020/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2020 / Britta Alford

I look out of the small kitchen window

above the table,

and saw the skin of your elbow

hanging from the outline

of a phantom shard glass.

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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Britta-Alfordheadshot.jpg 1800 1440 Britta Alford https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Britta Alford2020-03-12 12:18:082020-03-12 13:31:01sound hour

In Passing

January 29, 2020/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2020 / Peter Chiu

re: your temporal lobe/circular breath/first words as
typography/the eye slant/your name/your heritage/how
we cradle our Mother Tongue/the way your back slouches
when dreaming

Read more
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O’Hare

October 8, 2019/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2019 / Mackenzie Moore

It’s always the drive to the airport
when you look at me
merging concern from
the corner of your right eye
in my direction […]

Read more
https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/MackenzieMoore.jpg 1280 853 Mackenzie Moore https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Mackenzie Moore2019-10-08 12:29:002019-10-08 12:33:32O’Hare

Styx

September 1, 2019/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2019 / Karthik Sethuraman

In this poem, I am an outlaw / though what do
I know about headstones or hemoglobin / my
father promised me that Morricone captured the
most important feature of existence / the whistle […]

Read more
https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Karthik-SethuramanAugust_opt.jpg 400 300 Karthik Sethuraman https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Karthik Sethuraman2019-09-01 23:23:012019-09-01 23:24:27Styx

These Boots Are Made for Trauma

August 12, 2019/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2019 / Lannie Stabile

My feet
Are wearied and jaded
As a pair,
one incites the other […]

Read more
https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/JulyTwitterPoetry_LannieStabile_opt.jpg 400 300 Lannie Stabile https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Lannie Stabile2019-08-12 22:32:452019-08-12 22:32:45These Boots Are Made for Trauma

transgender (adjective)

July 24, 2019/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2019 / Danielle Rose

trans·​gen·​der | \ tran(t)s-ˈjen-dər, tranz-\

Definition of transgender
1. a  : of, relating to, or being a person who is vulnerable : see OTHER

// like a fetus or an orioles’ egg it is fragile & frequently unborn […]

Read more
https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/DanielleRoseJuneWinner_opt.png 400 300 Amanda Lopez https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Amanda Lopez2019-07-24 18:25:042019-07-24 18:35:59transgender (adjective)

Anthem

May 26, 2019/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2019 / Carla Schwartz

We, of the overbearing bosses,
the sovereign bosses
hovering over our desks,
we, just looking to advance our careers,
or seeking guidance, a leg up, […]

Read more
https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Schwartz_HeadshotMay2019_opt-1.jpg 400 300 Amanda Lopez https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Amanda Lopez2019-05-26 20:34:442019-07-24 18:35:28Anthem

A diaspora gives birth

April 19, 2019/in Twitter Contest, Twitter Contest 2019 / Alex Luceli Jiménez

Like a whisper caressing the back of our necks / kissing a line connecting sporadic wisps of hair / that’s how we feel it / a promise of a home we ever got to claim / made from bricks the color of earth / as deep and rich and brown as our skin […]

Read more
https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Jiménez_Headshot_opt.jpg 400 300 Alex Luceli Jiménez https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Alex Luceli Jiménez2019-04-19 09:31:452019-07-24 18:34:06A diaspora gives birth

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Genre Archive

  • Creative Nonfiction
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  • Flash Prose
  • Lunch Specials
  • Poetry
  • Interviews
  • Translation
  • Visual Art
  • Young Adult

Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published the second Friday of every month.

Today’s course:

Behind the Eight Ball: How to Become Homeless in the Richest Country in the World

June 13, 2025/in Blog / Valerie Nyberg
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Meeting My Child Self at the Trauma Play

May 9, 2025/in Blog / Gale Naylor
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Gale-Headshot-01July2024.jpg 1791 1587 Gale Naylor https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Gale Naylor2025-05-09 11:55:262025-06-17 18:07:25Meeting My Child Self at the Trauma Play

Products of Our Environment

March 14, 2025/in Blog / Mitko Grigorov
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Mitko_Grigorov.jpg 378 300 Mitko Grigorov https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Mitko Grigorov2025-03-14 11:00:082025-03-31 11:51:57Products of Our Environment

More Friday Lunch Blog »

Midnight Snack

Take a bite out of these late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

Dig Into Genre

May 23, 2025/in Midnight Snack / Lauren Howard
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The dreams in which I’m (not) dying

April 25, 2025/in Midnight Snack / paparouna
Read more
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On The Map

March 28, 2025/in Midnight Snack / Ariadne Will
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More Midnight Snacks »

Amuse-Bouche

Little bites every third Friday to whet your appetite!

Today’s plate:

Tale of the resistant apple tree

June 6, 2025/in Amuse-Bouche / Tahar Bekri, translated by Patrick Williamson
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/TaharBekri.jpg 512 340 Tahar Bekri, translated by Patrick Williamson https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Tahar Bekri, translated by Patrick Williamson2025-06-06 11:00:072025-06-17 18:56:48Tale of the resistant apple tree

Talyshi Wall Graffiti and other poems

May 30, 2025/in Amuse-Bouche / Ghazal
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we don’t spend our lives in the belly of the fish

May 16, 2025/in Amuse-Bouche / translated from French by Gabriella Bedetti and Don Boes
Read more
https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/headshot-translator-Gabriella-Bedetti.jpg 400 400 translated from French by Gabriella Bedetti and Don Boes https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png translated from French by Gabriella Bedetti and Don Boes2025-05-16 11:00:362025-07-08 07:33:51we don’t spend our lives in the belly of the fish

More Amuse-Bouche »

School Lunch

An occasional Wednesday series dishing up today’s best youth writers.

Today’s slice:

I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

May 12, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Brendan Nurczyk
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A Communal Announcement

April 28, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Isabella Dail
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Seventeen

April 14, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Abigail E. Calimaran
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More School Lunch »

Word From the Editor

The state of the world breaks my heart every day. Broken hearted, I stay online. I can’t log off. Because my career and schooling are all done remotely, I tend to struggle with boundaries regarding screen time, with knowing when to break away.

Like many of you, I have been spilling my guts online to the world because the guts of the world keep spilling. None of it is pretty. But it’s one of the things that, having searched for basically my entire life, I found that tempers the chaos that lives rent free inside my head.

More from the current editor »
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