A disaffected wife finds meaning and renewal in the continuity of her marriage; a noted poet reflects on the role of verse in times of extraordinary hardship; two young Haitian sisters are lost—then miraculously found—while immigrating to the United States; a mafia errand boy’s work and personal life converge during an ill-advised drug-deal; and three children, shunned by their village because their mother died in childbirth, venture into the wilderness. Enjoy reading, or rereading, these remarkably worthwhile pieces.
The Story of the Week series for 2020–2021 starts on October 18. If you would like to send a story for consideration as a Story of the Week, please see our Guidelines. Each September the Top Five Stories of the Week are selected for special notice.
Heather Brittain Bergstrom
Valley
They retire for the night, he to his bedroom and she to hers. What of it?
Marianne Boruch
Poetry in the Plague Year
Is there a case for poetry in this plague year?
Monique Clesca
The Departure
I sobbed quietly, for reality had set in: we were in New York, all alone.
Skip Horack
The Last Days of Monkey Zak: Part 1
Mikey smiled. “New Orleans has cometh. Rejoice, Woody.”
Tryphena L. Yeboah
To This God I Will Say
He has his hands on Nii’s throat, and this time I do not stop them.
