poem
Volume 21, Number 2

America is 15 times the size of Afghanistan

After she was attacked with acid, Shamsia said, “My parents told me to keep coming to school even if I am killed.”
—The New York Times

Pangaea breaks apart
A new dark island
forms beneath her eye

Across her cheek
the charred shape
of her country

She hides burns
beneath a black burqa
continues to learn
capitals of countries
she will never see


—LaToya Jordan