Sarah smells like caravan
holidays when I was small
I reach for a chip and
I’m stranded,
trapped in a blur of playing
Go Fish with Dad
Demi Lloyd recently gained a Masters degree in Creative Writing at Nottingham Trent University. She is part of a poetry group based in Nottingham called GOBS and is working towards her contribution to their spoken word showcase in March. In her spare time you can find her reading, listening to podcasts or thinking about cats.
Translated from Spanish by Delphine Tomes
as a child
my parents used to play
this fabulous game:
although the aim
is still unknown
the game arrived
to their relationship
as a forgotten quarter does
on an empty street
in Mexico City
it seemed to say:
hey!
are you going to grab me or what?
I have been here all day
and I just wanna go back home
I´m so fucking tired.
back then, dad
pretended to send money
– instead of love-
to mom’s debit card.
the nearest ATM machine
was about an hour away
so we used to cross
the whole town
in our 1970 VW beetle
just to find
that there was no money
or love
or anything else
inside
mom’s card
mom
dad’s lover
or the neighbor’s dog.
I felt so sad
I just wanted a new pair of socks,
a green pencil
and, perhaps
a tiny little fish
whose love
wouldn’t leave
my hands.
Sebastián Díaz Barriga was born in Mexico City in 1998. In 2018, he wrote his first book (Un rezo para mi padre) translated into English in 2020. He achieved first place at the XII National Desiderio Macías Silva Poetry Contest in 2019. He lives in the 21th century while dreaming about life. http://fabricandopajaros.blogspot.com is his blog.
Foxglove Journal 