Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction Editor: Hilda Raz Our Lady of the (cid:66)(cid:83)(cid:85)(cid:74)(cid:68)(cid:73)(cid:80)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:84) (cid:1) and other portuguese-american stories Katherine Vaz university of nebraska press · lincoln and london Acknowledgment for the use of previously published material appears on p. xi, which constitutes an extension of the copyright page. The photographs “The Holy Ghost Cape on the Ground,” “The Artichoke Scene,” “The Holy Ghost Cape with Attendants,” and “The Net Mural,” all by Michael Trudeau, are reproduced with permission; the pho- tograph “Pear in Bottle” is used with the permission of Susan Seubert/Botanica/jupiterimages, 475 Park Avenue South, 4th Floor, New York, New York, 10016 / (800) 764-7427. All other photographs courtesy of the author. The writing of this book was supported in part by The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Har- vard University and the MacDowell Artists Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. © 2008 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America ∞ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vaz, Katherine. Our lady of the artichokes and other Portuguese- American stories / Katherine Vaz. p. cm.—(Prairie Schooner book prize in fiction) isbn 978-0-8032-1790-4 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Portuguese Americans—Fiction. I. Title. ps3572.a97o87 2008 813'.54—dc22 2008009969 Set in Galliard. Designed by Ashley Muehlbauer. For my Christopher When I die, my son, Let me be the child, the little one. Pick me up in your arms And carry me into your house. Undress my tired and human self And tuck me into your bed. If I wake up, tell me stories So that I’ll fall back asleep. And give me your dreams to play with Until the dawning of that day You know will dawn. —“One midday in late spring” by Fernando Pessoa Contents Acknowledgments ............................xi Taking a Stitch in a Dead Man’s Arm .............. 1 All Riptides Roar with Sand from Opposing Shores ....15 Our Lady of the Artichokes .....................35 My Bones Here Are Waiting for Yours .............53 The Man Who Was Made of Netting ..............67 The Knife Longs for the Ruby ...................87 The Mandarin Question .......................105 Lisbon Story ............................... 115