During the month of April 2020, Arlington Poet Laureate Emerita Katherine E. Young is posting poems from the forthcoming anthology Written in Arlington, which showcases the poets and poems of Arlington, Virginia.
Doña Azucena
by Christine Sloan Stoddard
A play
in food.
The stage:
Glebe Road.
Pupusas promise
pockets of
home,
lore and tradition
in every bite.
Hot cheese,
hot pork
hot beans.
Grease never
tasted
so good.
Vamos a
bajonear algo.
Yuca frita,
chicharrones,
horchata.
All sung in that Salvadoran lilt.
San Salvador
in Arlington.
Santa Ana
in Arlington.
San Miguel
in Arlington.
¡Arrecho!
Christine Sloan Stoddard is a Salvadoran-American writer, interdisciplinary artist, and the founder of Quail Bell Magazine. Her latest book is Desert Fox by the Sea, a collection of short stories that won the Four Chambers Press fiction competition. Another recent release is Belladonna Magic: Spells in the Form of Poetry and Photography, which was praised by editors at Ms. Magazine and Art in America. Born and raised in Arlington, she lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Written in Arlington / Spoken in Arlington is a print and digital collection of the poets and poems of Arlington, VA, edited by Katherine E. Young and published by Paycock Press (forthcoming, fall 2020). It is supported in part by Arlington County through the Arlington Cultural Affairs division of Arlington Economic Development and the Arlington Commission for the Arts. For more information, visit Arlington Arts.
Image: After the Rain mixed media/collage on canvas by Anya Getter (fragment)
Katherine E. Young, Poet 