Abstract

Portrait of Aging Father Eduardo Martinez-Leyva (bio) Loose teeth. A small bout of depression.I can't imagine your heart as anything but a fist.No one to hold you back. You drank.The neighborhood. The city.Even the perfume bottles.Father of insulin and bad words.Dipping dead scorpions in bleach, you then set themablaze to prevent infestation. Saved the stingers.What else did you keep? Father of failedchild support payments. Born into the businessof suffering you said. Not blond. Superstitious.One glass eye. When you call, you do it anonymously.Father of syringe and black coffee. You oncetried to remove your tonsils with rusted pliers.The only gun you held was aimed at your head.Father of fits and minimum wage.Once, you begged for my tongue to dreamin another language. Soon you will be a ghostwithout enough to haunt. I help button your coatsand shirtsleeves, buckle your seat belt.I place your hand on the inside of my elbowwhen guiding you through places you deemtoo dark. Now, I'm just a blurred blemishyou can barely see. [End Page 129] Eduardo Martinez-Leyva eduardo martinez-leyva was born on the US-Mexico border to Mexican immigrants. His work has appeared in The Boston Review, The Adroit Journal, Best New Poets, and elsewhere. He's received fellowships from CantoMundo, The Frost Place, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. Copyright © 2022 Eduardo Martinez-Leyva

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