Poetry by Violeta Garza

      Jim Choate CC




Up the Gravel Road to the Picnic Tables,
Everyone Who Ever Loved You
Is at the Park Today.


It’s time for burgers-and-chips-on-styrofoam-plates.
Mouths scratch and graze while
   James Brown plays and slays.
Close to the water, a gazelle with gills drinks café au lait.
Bodies, spirits--
   Everyone’s here.
Your tía in her scallop-shell blouse.
Your abuela’s fleur-de-peony phantom fragrance.
The magnificent fourth-grade bestie you fell out with.
The primo who died last year on a respirator.
They’re here-for-you.
The great-great-grandfather 
   you never 
   met 
   cranes his 
   neck 
   to see you 
   better. 
His eyes soften as a crimson bear flies 
   overhead.

​



In The Water

in the water 
we found– 
a symphony 
a song 
a note.

it travels 
at the speed 
it is meant to, 
soft and gurgly, 
slow and round, 
and ever evolving 
as it takes on the 
vibrancy 
of the wildlife 
in its path.

in the water 
we breathed in 
memories and 
emotions and 
premonitions. 
they all meld together 
to become a protective wetsuit
so that we can
keep going,
keep going,
keep going. 

in the water 
we lost                             
everything.
our voices, 
our personalities, 
our goals. 
not because 
they were taken from us 
but simply 
because 
we forgot 
to memorize 
them 
on our way.

in the water 
we found ourselves.
not the versions 
that were scorched 
by the flood, 
but the enchantments 
we were always 
meant to be,
at the last
underwater
train station.

i sing in this water.
i sing for this water.
i sing of this water
in full and partial
sun. 




​Violeta Garza is a Latinx poet and artist from San Antonio, TX. Her debut poetry chapbook Brava was a semifinalist for the 2023 Nine Syllables Press Chapbook Contest, and will be released in September 2025 by First Matter Press. She never fully trained her tongue to roll her R's. You can peruse her work at violetagarza.com or @violeta.poeta. 
​