2 Poems

By Karol Nielsen

Cornhusker Hotel

My mother gave her $5 allowance to my father. He often spent it on gas. But once in a while, he took my mother to the Cornhusker Hotel for steak burgers, curly-q fries, and Green Rivers. My father had never been to such a posh place until he met my mother. He thought she was rich.

Barefoot

My father went barefoot at my mother’s house. My mother got a kick out of the wide gap between his big toe and second toe. My father used to say his toe got shot off.

Karol Nielsen is the author of the memoirs Raising the Price of the House, Walking A&P, and Black Elephants and three poetry chapbooks. Her first memoir was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Her full-length poetry collection was a finalist for the Colorado Prize for Poetry. Her poem “This New Manhattan” was a finalist for the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize.