My father’s mouth

By Joe Lozano

Issue 51 • Spring 2025 • Poetry

This poem tied for third place in the Spring Contest judged by Sara Daniele Rivera, who wrote: “This poem is masterful in the way it manages its crossings, traversing borders, time, and generations. There is a kind of dual muteness at the heart of the narrative: what the immigrant parent cannot say about their own life, what the child knows not to ask or cannot find a way to ask. A lifetime of places and stories held in the cavern of the parent’s mouth. And yet, the poem ends with a longing moment of connection, as parent and child try to see each other in whatever way they can.”

Taking the time to learn my tongue
…………………….has leapt between two worlds
…………………….at once, I stare into my father’s
…………………….mouth.
…………………….…………………….…………………….¿Y tú, que miras?

I know not to ask about the black of his
…………………….tooth – how a crown will decay
…………………….over years of sugar and smoke
…………………….and a misspent youth

outside the church of San Juan de los Lagos,
…………………….sparking fireworks and cigarettes
…………………….in the alley, racing home before
…………………….his father’s buckle finds his

backside or his mother or all four
…………………….brothers in the woe of tradition
…………………….in a class constricting economy
…………………….where a little discipline

is what kept the lights from dying
…………………….over the dirt and adobe in my
…………………….father’s corner of the room
…………………….where he drew his city in the sand

with his fingers, dreaming
…………………….of the colors of Xochimilco
…………………….before the urban sprawl
…………………….sank its floating gardens.

I know not to ask about the scar
…………………….on his lip that he bit after falling
…………………….over the rocks on the banks
…………………….in the cold rolling of El Rio,

losing what’s left of his shoes behind
…………………….while hopping boulders
…………………….and trying not to look
…………………….at the water, or himself,

instead watching the flight of the herons
…………………….drag the winds of Mexico
…………………….into the dry heat of Texas,
…………………….hoping someday that he too may fly.
…………………….…………………….…………………….Nada, papa. Solo te quiero mirar.

Joe Lozano

Joe Lozano was raised in Austin, TX where he still resides with his family. A first-generation US citizen and college graduate, Joe immersed himself back into the community he grew up with and became a teacher, an organizer, and a mentor. Joe went on to explore and develop his writing at Texas State University’s MFA program in Poetry. As he continues his education and develop his craft as an English and Spanish language writer, Joe hopes to inspire a new generation of bilingual poets to continue with the tradition of utilizing the power of language to enact change, personally and socially.

Roger Camp

Roger Camp is the author of three photography books including the award-winning Butterflies in Flight, Thames & Hudson, 2002 and Heat, Charta, Milano, 2008. His documentary photograph has been awarded the prestigious Leica Medal of Photography. His photographs are represented by the Robin Rice Gallery, NYC.