Peter Newton

Abiyat

It means to escape what it is attacks you. What you find inside to do this, yes. How you say: courage.

The cadence of his native tongue survives in his broken English. An out-of-breath quality as if he were trying to be heard above a strong headwind. But he is fearless in his approach to language. It is the first day of News Writing 101 and grammar is going to be an issue.

Even the youngest gazelle is not caught quickly.

Having escaped Senegal and certain butchery at ten, Abiyat still holds out hope that one thing he does can change everything. He wants to tell the world what is happening. What could I say then in the face of a misplaced comma, his repeated lapses in subject-verb agreement.

It is the easy thing some find difficulty.

yard sale
decades of a life
for pennies on the dollar