Category: Flavor Town USA

Three Fictions for Flavor Town USA: Elissa Matthews

Roast Duck with Plum Sauce At two in the morning my mother phones, waking me. Insomnia, fear, and the need to talk have overwhelmed her once again. There’s pain between us—some open wounds, some badly healed ones, some jagged scars—but we both know we have only a few months left. “I’m hungry,” she says. “Make…
Flavor Town USA Poetry: “Oranges” by Laurel Benjamin

A woman has taken a man into the kitchen, shows him the panstripped of its black coat—Taken years to form, she says, and grabs the unscented orange cleanser, like pickingthe tree, a globe ready to burst. She dreams the past, gurney ride down a hallway, and under the gas she’s breast-stroking in the pool with…
Poetry from Flavor Town USA: “Death Is on the Menu” by Anthony Cappo

Morning groggy, anxiety spike, and stumble out the door. Café smells of coffee, French toast, and menace. Every morning death on the menu. Maybe not written— might be down-low house special— but always there. You can’t “86” death. Chills the forks and spoons lying on the table. It looks slimming, grins the maître d’. The…
Flavor Town USA Nonfiction: “Jubilee” by Anne Panning

I. It was the cheapest, one-ingredient, fiercely-anticipated summer meal for a Midwestern family of six—corn on the cob. Our favorite variety: Jubilee. II. At 16, I worked the cutter belt at Big Stone Canning Factory. Every morning I biked down on my rickety ten-speed then headed in to suit up: hairnet, hardhat, orange earplugs dangling…
Poetry for Flavor Town USA: “Exercise for Beginners” by Marc Janssen

Do people breathe differentlyWhen they are running in their dreams?I had a dog that would run in his sleep,His feet would quiver as he chased chipmunks up trees made of canine fantasy.Eyes movingScanning the inside of his lids. I wish there was a dreaming dietWhere I could run marathons while unconscious,And in the morning, wake…
“Hot Dog Exclusivity”: New Short Fiction for Flavor Town USA by Avery Gregurich

The people of Icon are celebrating their independence just as they have for centuries: with a contest of eaters. It’s hot throughout Icon. The national flags wave upside down on poles outside the pods of some of the people tuning in on their HomeScreens to watch the eaters. Most of those people actually hunger to…
Flavor Town USA Poetry: “Why Not the Cherry Tree” by Matthew James Friday

with its dark web of branchesoffering galaxies of darkening orbs. At Idiot’s Grace Farm – Pick Your Ownmy middle-school nephew proudlyconquers ladders and black hole branchesone star at a time. I stand below, an Odin steadying the ladder,belly-bucket layering with half-heartedlabors, one eye on him, the otheron cherries bouncing below. We consume half the universein…
Flavor Town USA Comic: “Hand, Foot & Mouth” by KC Councilor

KC Councilor is a trans cartoonist and professor who draws memoir comics and occasionally academic ones. You can see more of his work at kccouncilor.com.
Flavor Town USA Short Story: “A Juicy Soul” by Coleman Bigelow

As I prepare to enter the icy river, my mind wanders to that slice of meat lovers I’ve left behind. I’m regretting my restraint. Not eating all of my “last supper” now seems like an unnecessary sacrifice. What’s the point of being born again if you don’t go out with a gulp? The first time…