A Poem by Benjamin Garcia

Author: Poetry Editor

June 12, 2018

This week, a poem by Benjamin Garcia.

Conversations with My Father // A Poem in Closet Verse

When was the last time
you took a girl to the movies?
________________________________________//
____________________________________________It’s been a long time
____________________________________________since I’ve seen a movie.
You should marry
a pretty girl in Albuquerque.
________________________________________//
____________________________________________I don’t think I’m ever
____________________________________________moving back to Albuquerque.
God wants us to the know the joy
of being a father.
________________________________________//
____________________________________________Maybe God doesn’t want me
____________________________________________to be a father.
When will you be a father,
like me?
________________________________________//
____________________________________________Having children doesn’t make a father,
____________________________________________at least not to me.
I mean, I would like it if you made me
a grandfather again.
________________________________________//
____________________________________________You either are or you aren’t.
____________________________________________There is no again.

——

BENJAMIN GARCIA is a Community Health Specialist in Upstate New York. He had the honor of being the 2017 Latin@ Scholar at the Frost Place and 2018 CantoMundo Fellow at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival. His work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Nimrod International, Newfound, Acentos Review, Boston Review, and Kenyon Review Online.