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Transplant

May 13, 2021/ Judith Terzi

There he was carrying a tray of bygone
at a San Francisco Hilton. Surrogate for
husband #1. Food services manager, not

engineer. Fluid English, not timid. I stared
at his name tag; he asked if I thought he was
Polish. I’d know the name anywhere. That

dramatic day I’d met the ex across the bay
at UC Berkeley––the day JFK was killed.
The ex was carrying coffee in one of those

clunky white mugs––the ones my roomie
would sometimes stuff into her gigantic black
purse she schlepped from Anthro to PolySci.

The surrogate’s named Arezki. Algerian––
like the ex. I didn’t know an immigration lottery
existed, but Arezki was one lucky guy. I was

in San Francisco for a transplant––one lucky
guy, my grandson, getting a kidney from Mom.
“It’s like a birth,” I told Arezki. “Mother’s

giving life a second time.” “Un miracle, une
renaissance
,” he said, still carrying my past.
I knew our meal would be perfect, like

the English of husband #2. Transplant to
Tujunga from the Bronx. Same name––
Norman––as today’s Maytag guy, one lucky

transplant from Moscow. There was Norman
carrying his black tool kit. Husband #2 carried
books with his name on covers and my name

in the acknowledgments. The repairman had
a tough job today: my Maytag needed a new
bearing. He told me, “You know, they put

Norman on my uniform. But I’m Armenian,
my name is Norayr. Hard to pronounce
in English. It means new man.” I think about

my grandson, the precision of the surgery team,
excision of one organ, its rearrangement into
the flesh of a 24-year-old’s tender body, which

will shelter the gift as long as it can. Today,
this boy shall replace his English name with
Norayr. One name shall be a surrogate for another.

Author of Museum of Rearranged Objects (Kelsay) as well as of five chapbooks, including If You Spot Your Brother Floating By and Casbah (Kattywompus), Judith Terzi’s poems have appeared in a wide array of journals and anthologies, most recently in Atlanta Review, Moria, Solstice Literary Magazine, and Spillway. Her poetry has been read on BBC Radio 3 and nominated for a Pushcart and Best of the Net. A former educator, she has taught French and English in Southern California as well as in Algiers, Algeria.

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Genre Archive

  • Creative Nonfiction
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  • Flash Prose
  • Lunch Specials
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  • Writing for Young People

Friday Lunch Blog

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

Today’s course:

The Enduring Haunting of a Failed Driver’s Test(s)

September 15, 2023/in Blog / Meghan McGuire
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Glitch Wisdom

May 12, 2023/in Blog / KJ McCoy
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Lessons on Getting Paid: My First Year as a Freelance Writer

April 14, 2023/in Blog / EJ Saunders
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/paul-hanaoka-unsplash-freelance-pay-post-1-scaled.jpg 2560 1707 EJ Saunders https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png EJ Saunders2023-04-14 11:59:292023-04-14 12:09:57Lessons on Getting Paid: My First Year as a Freelance Writer

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Midnight Snack

Take a bite out of these late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

The Secret Histories of Everywhere

June 2, 2023/in Midnight Snack / Brian Lynn
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/headshot.jpg 241 358 Brian Lynn https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Brian Lynn2023-06-02 23:47:102023-06-12 23:03:37The Secret Histories of Everywhere

Into the Linguistic Rabbit Hole

May 5, 2023/in Midnight Snack / paparouna
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/alexander-grey-IDxuUey3M5E-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1707 2560 paparouna https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png paparouna2023-05-05 23:55:022023-05-05 20:13:45Into the Linguistic Rabbit Hole

Dancing into Detachment

April 7, 2023/in Midnight Snack / Robert Kirwin
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Amuse-Bouche

Little bites every third Friday to whet your appetite!

Today’s plate:

Exercise

September 11, 2023/in Amuse-Bouche / Cecilia Savala
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LitDish: Ten Questions With Isabel Yap

September 1, 2023/in Amuse-Bouche / Interviewed by Gail Vannelli
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Pawing the Ground

July 23, 2023/in Amuse-Bouche / Laurie Granieri
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Laurie-Granieri-headshot-rotated.jpg 1544 1160 Laurie Granieri https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Laurie Granieri2023-07-23 12:39:522023-07-25 09:30:39Pawing the Ground

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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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Word From the Editor

If you are an artist of any kind, chances are you are no stranger to The Unknown. In fact, it has probably been a motivating factor in creating your art. I know it has been for me. Wrestling with The Unknown is a fundamental part of the human experience, and the human experience is a fundamental part of art.

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