If you ever want to feel real,
even important,
cry on the street.
Sob. Heave. Bum a half-smoked cigarette.
Drunks rally around your wet eyes:
A woman brings a paper cup of soft serve.
A man in a floral shirt puts his hand on your shoulder
to deliver queer advice:
“You’re just going through it, hun.
We’re all always going through it.”
Kevin Hautigan is from South Florida and lives in New York City. He graduated from Georgetown University.
HEMA PADHU
I remember how she used to look before my siblings arrived. Her long braided hair and slim hips ... She catches me staring at her as she grinds batter for idli. Beads of perspiration dot her neck and forehead. She grasps my chin with batter fingers and says, study hard, or you’ll end up like this.
HANNAH GERSEN
It's still good to be alive, it's a gift to be alive. I can fall into a very pessimistic feeling about the future, and I think anyone who has delved into science will come away feeling alarmed and grief-stricken at all that has already been lost.
MOHAMMAD IBRAHIM NAWAYA
An unfamiliar man catches your eye; he’s looking at one of the straw baskets, coming closer, hesitating for a moment then coming closer again, and looking into it. Suddenly he grabs his eyes with his hands and starts poking at them with his thumbs, like he’s scratching the pupils out.
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