Ali Shapiro’s work has appeared in Gertrude, Popula, PrairieSchooner, The Offing, The Rumpus, and Electric Literature, among others. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan, and now teaches writing at the Stamps School of Art & Design. Read more at www.ali-shapiro.com.
HEMA PADHU When I start using the white tea-scented, triple-action razor, my hair grows back twice as fast. My amma was right. She was right about a lot of other things, too. America is the best and the worst thing that happened to you, she says. You love yourself more but others less.
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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