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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.

Issue Archive

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  • Issue 14: Winter/Spring 2019
  • Issue 13: Summer/Fall 2018
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Genre Archive

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

Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published every Friday.

Today’s course:

Diagnosed at Sixty – My ADHD Journey

April 22, 2022/in Blog / Kait Leonard
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Why Video Game Preservation Matters

April 15, 2022/in Blog / Nicholas Galvez
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Sarees in America

April 1, 2022/in Blog / Majella Pinto
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Midnight Snack

A destination for all your late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

QVC-land

May 6, 2022/in Midnight Snack / D. E. Hardy
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Diana-Hardy_QVC_Feature_Photo.png 533 800 D. E. Hardy https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png D. E. Hardy2022-05-06 23:45:322022-05-06 19:25:59QVC-land

Escape Artists at the End of the World

April 29, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Lisa Levy
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/waldemar-brandt-eIOPDU3Fkwk-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1707 2560 Lisa Levy https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Lisa Levy2022-04-29 23:49:582022-04-29 20:27:32Escape Artists at the End of the World

The House in the Middle

April 15, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Megan Vasquez
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More coming soon!

Amuse-Bouche

Little bites every Monday to whet your appetite!

Today’s plate:

Which Half

May 18, 2022/in Amuse-Bouche, Poetry / Claire Scott
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/anthony-tran-vXymirxr5ac-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1707 2560 Claire Scott https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Claire Scott2022-05-18 16:04:092022-05-18 16:04:09Which Half

Antigone in NYC

May 2, 2022/in Amuse-Bouche, Poetry / Ann Pedone
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/nathalie-stimpfl-EDKWnb-kZV4-unsplash-scaled.jpg 2560 1707 Ann Pedone https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Ann Pedone2022-05-02 11:53:542022-05-02 08:54:07Antigone in NYC

Slackers Rule

April 26, 2022/in Amuse-Bouche / Karen Regen-Tuero
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/erik-hansman-PL5VrlAISt4-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1706 2560 Karen Regen-Tuero https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Karen Regen-Tuero2022-04-26 16:08:292022-04-26 16:08:29Slackers Rule

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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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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SL-Insta-Brendan-Nurczyk-2.png 1500 1500 Brendan Nurczyk https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Brendan Nurczyk2021-05-12 10:18:392022-02-01 13:24:05I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

A Communal Announcement

April 28, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Isabella Dail
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-FB-Isabella-Dail.png 788 940 Isabella Dail https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Isabella Dail2021-04-28 11:34:132021-04-28 11:34:13A Communal Announcement

Seventeen

April 14, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Abigail E. Calimaran
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-Insta-Abigail-E.-Calimaran.png 1080 1080 Abigail E. Calimaran https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Abigail E. Calimaran2021-04-14 11:22:062021-04-14 11:22:06Seventeen

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Word From the Editor

Here at Lunch Ticket, 2021 represents ten years of our literary journal. 2021 marks the start of a new decade, one I can only hope will stand as tall and iconic in the history of our publication as the jazz age in America. What we’ve put together this fall is what I call and will fondly remember as our “Roaring 20th Issue”.

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