Story Told While Pruning
“His grandfather and mule were coming down a mountain into the valley. His mule carried firewood, an axe, and a jug filled with a sweet rice drink. In the field below […]
John Olivares Espinoza
No Weeds, No Work
If there were no weeds, there would be no work, Dad says. He’s a machine sliding his hula-hu through the weeds carpeting the rose bed. I lag behind, raking, collecting weeds in dusty mounds until they are too heavy for the rake. My sore hands struggle to drag it another inch. […]
Falling From the Tree of Heaven
I lift my weight’s worth of crushed oleander leaves in a can. I climb the peak of the 8-foot ladder leaning aside the dump truck. I shake the crush out of the can like cereal out of its box. I pause, catch a breath of dry air again, watch my brothers below, My […]
Riding with My Brother to the Dump
I Dump Truck A white Chevy, the cab burdened With a week’s worth of yard clippings. My brother Luis races the wind, Floors it downhill Spraying grass on the highway— Gardener’s rain. II Clothes Flat ball caps laid low. Old jeans passed down from brothers To whomever they fit best. […]
Suicide (As if Napping During Twilight)
I am fourteen and I am dead. My body lies on its side As if napping during twilight. I am fourteen and this is the year I was most likely to have killed myself. Self-esteem low As water running down a sidewalk. Ridiculed for my skinniness. Skinny because I […]
Wife and Child Leave Mr. Walton Spanish Teacher
I return home from teaching to a front door left ajar. The silence in the house amplifies The heartbeat from our clock hanging on the wall. I find a note on my little girl’s […]
John Olivares Espinoza Q&A on the Genesis of Suicide (as if Napping During Twilight)
John Olivares Espinoza, author of the chapbooks: Aluminum Times (Davis: Swan Scythe Press, 2002) and Gardeners of Eden (Berkeley: Chicano Chapbook Series, 2000), talks about the benesis of his poem Suicide (as if Napping During Twilight).
John Olivares Espinoza Q&A on the Genesis of Wife and Child Leave Mr. Walton
John Olivares Espinoza, author of the chapbooks: Aluminum Times (Davis: Swan Scythe Press, 2002) and Gardeners of Eden (Berkeley: Chicano Chapbook Series, 2000), talks about the genesis of his poem. Wife and Child Leave Mr. Walton.