Category: The Last Word

Essay: “Mohammed and Me” by Mandy Shunnarah

Our eyes met in the rearview mirror and he looked at me appraisingly. “You look Middle Eastern.” This would have been odd coming from anyone else, but my Lyft driver who’d just picked me up from a watch party for the 2018 midterm elections—with his keffiyeh scarf draped over the passenger seat headrest and his…
Poetry: “Acceptable Risk” by Tara Campbell

“Acceptable Risk” is a response to the “no-knock” police raid in Louisville on March 13 that ended in the shooting death of 26-year-old African-American EMT Breonna Taylor. Police say they knocked and identified themselves, but Walker and other witnesses in the building say they did not. The officers were not using body cameras. As reported…
Clara Trippe: Three Poems

Silence for Those Who NestA poem for Homero Gómez González, environmental activist and protector of monarch butterflies You sleep with a closed fist, and uncurl your fingers in the morning. Lyingwhen you say your dreams were gentle: your peace is none of my business.The oils on our palms are…
“The Academic Agenda,” a satirical story by Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

How much did you learn in school? There are hours when the subjectivity of days and nights overwhelms you. To the point that your mind runs smack dab against the Scylla and the Charybdis of the past. The past? And what the hell is it? And when the hell was it? You might sit up…
Bonnie Billet: “Dr Larry Nassar,” a poem

when you stand up to speakyou’re suckerpunchedtold you don’tunderstand ‘the nuanced difference between sexual assaultand an appropriate medical procedure’ he pawed your small girl titshe twisted his fingers into your cunt indifferencegave the doctor all the time he needed wearing 4 pairs of underwearand having your mother in the office doesn’t stop the abuse…
“our next nominee should remember”: A Six-Poem Suite by Michael Chang

our next nominee should remember ne-VAD-daalways moisturizehand sanitizer is your friendand clorox, for when you get to the oval officecheck what city you’re innever wrestle with pigs. you both get dirty and the pig likes it.look out for numero unoavoid kitchenslose the friends from back homefail oftenthe opposite of armor is curiosityif you do the…
“Trump or Wile E. Coyote?”: A Current Events Quiz by Tara Campbell

Choose A, B, or C for each of the numbered items below:A) Real or proposed border control measureB) Scheme to capture Road RunnerC) Both 1) Firearms2) Cement3) Dogs4) Mirrors5) Gas (sleeping/tear)6) Electric spikes7) Black paint8) Invisible paint9) Dropping anvils10) Cactus Costume11) Shooting legs12) Portable hole13) Exploding tennis balls14) Giant balloons15) Misleading instructions16) Steel plates17) Moat…
Four Poems by Schyler Butler

If Forced to Join Maleatra Montanez know that he will sayyour legs burst wide like syrup pouredhis throat the drain what was he to dobut unload blame ontoyour blackstrap skinslaughter within youwhat little dignityremained, boy childof yours in the cornerforever tamed, anotherreceptacle of shame What the Devil Tells Me I wouldn’t blame your fatheror the…
Akusua A. Akoto: Three Poems

Mother’s Dance #1 Mother does notWant to dance aloneCome childShe’s trying to bringYou into the musicOf her tears Her mouth is bleedingIn the center of this prayer.There is no waterIn her danceAs she stumbles forHer father Her hands are achingAnd in her pleaFor salvationShe is naked As hands touch herShe knowsShe will be raped againUnder…