I Am No Longer a Child with My Father
in the lavender tinted mornings,
hints of citrus fill the kitchen.
he grips an orange from my 3 inch hands,
peels it with the care of a lion chewing its tail.
he pulls the rising sun into the earth,
tears it in half and says “One for you, One for me.”
his sticky sweet hands capable of mending my broken skin,
are soft as he puts my hair into a ponytail.
on the green pavement, his grin peers through
the nylon strings and I hold my breath,
take in scents of sweet black rubber, a new crisp can,
take in skids of our shoes and swings of our arms
just as I am finally showing signs of his younger self
I am standing still,
and there is a pool of confusing red
developing on my shorts.
he understands I'm growing older,
close and stuck to the ground he speaks to me like it's my wedding day
he understands I'm growing older,
unwanted blood and that still new can will come home with us
he understands I’m growing older,
for now,
I’m still 10
and I hit that perfect backhand again
Chandler Garcia is a 23-year-old Latinx and transgender student at California State University, Long Beach, pursuing a degree in Creative Writing with a focus in poetry. They use their experiences being a trans person of color in various aspects of their identity and life to inspire their writing and poetic voice. Their work has been published in SCAB Magazine.
in the lavender tinted mornings,
hints of citrus fill the kitchen.
he grips an orange from my 3 inch hands,
peels it with the care of a lion chewing its tail.
he pulls the rising sun into the earth,
tears it in half and says “One for you, One for me.”
his sticky sweet hands capable of mending my broken skin,
are soft as he puts my hair into a ponytail.
on the green pavement, his grin peers through
the nylon strings and I hold my breath,
take in scents of sweet black rubber, a new crisp can,
take in skids of our shoes and swings of our arms
just as I am finally showing signs of his younger self
I am standing still,
and there is a pool of confusing red
developing on my shorts.
he understands I'm growing older,
close and stuck to the ground he speaks to me like it's my wedding day
he understands I'm growing older,
unwanted blood and that still new can will come home with us
he understands I’m growing older,
for now,
I’m still 10
and I hit that perfect backhand again
Chandler Garcia is a 23-year-old Latinx and transgender student at California State University, Long Beach, pursuing a degree in Creative Writing with a focus in poetry. They use their experiences being a trans person of color in various aspects of their identity and life to inspire their writing and poetic voice. Their work has been published in SCAB Magazine.