I’m thrilled to be published in vox poetica. The lit mag was founded in 2009 by Annmarie Lockhart, a resident of Bergen County, New Jersey — where I’m from!
The poem featured, “In a Diner in America Circa 1956,” came to me one day as I was walking on Park Avenue during my lunch break. I was thinking about Jack Kerouac stopping in a roadside cafe for a little nourishment as he traveled across the country, and the awkwardness and opportunities that abound when one travels on one’s own.
It’s a pastiche of Jack Kerouac’s interview on The Steve Allen Show, his narration of what may be the only true Beat film Pull My Daisy, and an amalgamation of information from his novels and letters as well as biographies.
You can read it here.
Stephanie Nikolopoulos 
Almonds are brown. Kerouac’s eyes were blue.
Joyce Johnson
Hi, Joyce –
Thanks for reading! The eyes referred to as almonds in the poem belong to William Saroyan. It’s an allusion to Saroyan’s Armenian ancestry.
Best wishes,
Stephanie