Flying

By GABRIELA YBARRA LEMMONS

our truck gathers speed as we approach the hills of el valle and for
a few seconds    i am in flight    we accelerate    embark the horizon’s
next hill    we brake    drive past algodón    pull to the side    of the
road    terremotos on perfectly spaced rows    i follow my father
plucks a boll     exposes white fibers in my palm    where clothes come
from    he says    fertile    is my father’s land

Gabriela Ybarra Lemmons was born and raised in South Texas, a stone’s throw from the Rio Grande. She was raised by migrant workers and earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Kansas. She is currently a dual language teacher in Topeka, Kansas. 

[Purchase Issue 26 here.]