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.