Aurora Shimshak hails from the hills and caves of southwest Wisconsin. She holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MFA in nonfiction from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her writing has appeared in Shenandoah, The Southampton Review, and Poetry Northwest. Raised in a family of educators, she teaches writing to high schoolers, undergraduates, and those incarcerated at Oakhill Correctional Institution. She's at work on a memoir about what it means to miss someone. Find more at aurorashimshak.com. Instagram: @ladyshimshak; Twitter: @ashimshak.

ENUMERATE

Little Mother

By AURORA SHIMSHAK

Even before she lost custody she questioned her maternal drive