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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1991)
Ray Ronci, an English doctoral candidate, is the 1991 Academy of American Poets award and a 1990 John H. Vreeland prize for literary composition recipient His works have appeared in the Iowa Review, North Dakota Quarterly and the Greensboro Review. Ronci is a native of Cranston, R.I. *i r f Fine arts junior Ann Dorenbach wrote and illustrated her first book in second grade. By 6th $rade, she had won a Nebraska Young Au thors Award and continues to receive honors with her writing, including an honorable mention from the Academy of American Poets. Dorenbach is a Malcolm, Neb. native. ouver LM-tte They yelled, under the grapevines, whatever they said, in the back of my grandfather's house, in the evening, in the midst of fig trees and tomato plants, string beans, lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, chicory, the yellow rose bushes surrounding the blue Madonna, geraniums, chrysanthemums. Grandfather rocking far back in his green iron chair under a wide brimmed white straw hat with a thin black band, smoking fat black cigars, drinking black red wine, pressed and stored in his own damp cellar. The flowered plastic table cloth covered with plates ofbiscotti, rumballs, doughboys and spinach pie, a wooden bowl of grapes green and bitter, blemished peaches and hard green apples, eat! Eat! Foods I never had at home like figs right off the tree, anchovies, cakes made with anisette, with brandy. The smoke from cigars and cigarettes burned my eyes, made me cough and dream all night: carpaccio, prosciutto e fichi, totani con aglio, va bene, benissimo, ecco! tossing and wriggling as if tied to a beam in the musty dirt cellar. I'd sit up in bed, bolted to the dark, while my father's snoring prowled throughout the house. In today’s world opportunity doesn’t knock... T* DTMPC I — I loin the fun ^ Jand be an important part of a winning, team-spirited ■j organization! ]$6.50/HR. Guaranteed :-'•/ + Bonuses & Profit / 01 • (Snaring. I • Rexible Schedules I • Bonuses for Every Sale I • Paid Training I • Paid Vacation & Holidays I • Birthday Pay I • Warm, Friendly Supervision I • Extra Earnings rhrough Employee Referral Programs | • Free Breakfast on Weekends I • Career Opportunities-Promotions from Within. [ Strong Verbal & Listening Skills required Bananas for my grandma Sometimes I think growing old is beautiful not quite as nauseous as I feel looking at Ester's tired, thin body slumping down in her awful brown and orange chair like heavy clothes on a hanger. Sitting on a mauve-colored couch for two my grandma and I talk and wait for my mother, only a few bananas left in our bag, grandma will take them home, set them in the wooden bowl in the kitchen with the warm oranges and bruised apples, wait for their skins to turn yellow. The couch looks plush but we talk about the plastic feel it has, very practical I say, for a nursing home, it is very nice here my grandma agrees, slipping on the idea like a new cardigan sweater, breaking it in. The view is incredible from where we sit, large walls of windows filter in only warmth, outside, the sun is melting smears of snow, tanning stalks of corn stubble, stripped stems of absent soybeans. Light pours in through Eric Williams, a senior fine arts major, stands with his XU1fi?,re eiLt‘lI^d "Han8ing Fairy" in his studio above the Haymarket Gallery. enormous frames of sky, washing across the tile floor. A crucifix on the wall, my grandma points over near the chapel, we gave in your grandfather's name, light spilling in through the glass fills the palm of Christ's hand like a cup, my grandmother's hand presses down into my palm, warm and smooth she leans into me with each step, embarrassed she pushes her face down into the cloth of my shoulder, laughing about how each week she comes to visit the nurses try to help her find her room, I move so slow, she covers the pain with good humor, they think I belong here. Oh gosh, she says and I hear the realization in her voice. My mother, her mother and I move down each hallway, grandma's left arm swinging out from her side for balance, under my arm the brown bag of bananas, 33( a pound uptown at R&R Market, she picked out a bunch from beneath the Golden Ripe sign. Peels as green as cucumber skin I carried them like a baby under my arm, Bring the bananas, she told me when I wanted to leave them in the car with the other groceries, I take bananas every week when I go to visit, she said These aren't quite ripe, emptying our bag room to room, they're still pretty young give them a little more time and they'll be ready. r ^ THE ALAMO 56TH & HWY 2 421-FORT Levi s’Solid Pique Shirts ^9 nW BhBbH& In a wide range of fashion colors. Levi’s'pique knit DU|* B Ef apwawny M ™ shirts are styled with a relaxed fit and extended back Jg|W JBj ■ MTjotl JsL tail that stays tucked in Plus all the quality you expect ■ H firanB nB w£? im from Levi Strauss & Co Ribbed collar and sleeve cuffs. taped collar seam, even color-matched buttons In an easy-care polyester/cotton blend that keeps its shape ...WESTERN Y OUTFITTERS Various Colors Tails $14.98 * j