"Long Division," by Lisa Cupolo

The compactness of this story bears down poignantly on a strained father-son relationship. They are a continent apart but distanced in more ways than geography. The title might sound like math and it does work that way, but more surprisingly it points to a rift in the heart. Do we commit ourselves to alleviating the pain of large social problems or do we tether ourselves to kith and kin? It’s a short piece that delivers a blow as strong as a novel with a long history. Read it here at Ploughshares.