Stirring : A Literary Collection
Samsara Quarterly

Radames Ortiz


FATHER

On West Main, near a church
My dad decides to be straight with me

"You get real tired of the same meat, of
The same stinking bed."

His eyes a dim gray
His mouth twisting sadness by butter knives

From Mexico City, to Chicago
He tuned-up old trucks, changed tires,
Traced electrical shorts --
The process of making due

"You were a mistake but I stayed."

Flies crawl his arm
The sun flaring behind trees
And I stare deep into stream
Of glass yawning in angled light

He was saying good-bye
"Ya no pedo. Ya no pedo"

Stepping out, dust dancing in gold waves
The engine roars thick as metal

and along the curb, I kick cans
under clouds giving up
and trees pointing to a new home

First published in Turtleneck



Location: Houston, Texas
Email: Radames_O@hotmail.com
Publications: Exquisite Corpse, Azimuth, Barriolife.com, Fusion Ink, The New Journal, Adirondack Review, The Mesquite Review, etc.
Chapbook: Below the Surface
Awards: Fabian Worsham Award for Poetry and the Megaera Award for Poetry
Other: Editor of The Bayou Review, the literary journal for the University of Houston Downtown, and the online journal Coyote Magazine: Bringing Literature and Art Across Borders