Transcript: Poems on Air, Episode 54 - Benjamin Garcia

The following transcript is provided for accessibility only. Layout, formatting, and typography of poems may differ from the original text. We recommend referring to the original, published works when possible to experience the poems as intended by their authors.

[Music intro]

LYNNE THOMPSON: Hello! My name is Lynne Thompson, Poet Laureate for the City of Los Angeles and I’m so happy to welcome listeners to this installment of Poems on Air, a podcast supported by the Los Angeles Public Library. Every week, I’ll present the work of poets I admire, poets who you should know, and poets who have made a substantial and inimitable contribution to the art and craft of poetry.

LYNNE THOMPSON: Continuing Poems on Air’s celebration of the finalists for the Kate Tufts Poetry Prize, I turn the spotlight to the poet Benjamin Garcia and his collection Thrown in the Throat. Benjamin Garcia is the son of Mexican immigrants, one of whom is formerly undocumented and one whose family has lived in New Mexico long before it was claimed by the United States. He is truly born of the soil we call America and that fact shines in his poetry. The winner of the 2019 National Poetry Series, Garcia is and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.

LYNNE THOMPSON: Today’s poem is "To the Unborn Sibling" by Benjamin Garcia.

To the Unborn Sibling


Small and angry towns pock this section of HWY 287 the skewers clear across the
fat gut of Texas and our father won’t stop for anything but gas. No armadillo is
safe. The one time we did stop for food, the owner refused, even though us kids
could translate the orders. So if you don’t want to piss in a can or you lack that
equipment or you think the metal mouth of the can will bite, hold it until we
stop for gas. Because our oldest brother, caught off guard by a bump in the road,
perhaps a pothole or unlucky creature, cut himself you-know-where.. That’s why we
call him the Castrato. And boy, do nicknames stick. Our other brother:  Wetpants.
Take it from me, no matter how many changes of clothes, he will never dry. And
as for me, I have been left behind before, and that’s all it takes to know what those
little Texas flags mean, that white star like cotton breaking the pod, the open
throat of a cottonmouth.

LYNNE THOMPSON: The Los Angeles Poet Laureate was created as a joint program between the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles Public Library and this podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening!

[Music outro]

  • Back to Poems on Air: Episode 54

    • DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a certified or verbatim transcript, but rather represents only the context of the class or meeting, subject to the inherent limitations of real-time captioning. The primary focus of real-time captioning is general communication access and as such this document is not suitable, acceptable, nor is it intended for use in any type of legal proceeding. Transcript provided by the author.

Top