"The Gypsy" by Richard Garcia

The Gypsy

I realize that concerning you, I am an unreliable narrator. The
tangible lily, the bones of a fan, the paper airplane — are all the
same. She is a gypsy, speaks Roma, a dancer, an acrobat — I tell my
friends. Not true you tell me, I am none of those. You made her up
my friends say, and look sorry for me when I talk about you. Your
friends are right, you say, you made me up. If that is true what
about the mushroom plunger attached to an IV line pumping fluid
into the crumpled paper flower? And the floating heart dripping
Siddhartha's head. And the face emerging from the basket now
fish scales. And the ring I gave you, lost immediately, now
reemerging from the gravel bearing the face of St Perdita, patron
saint of the lost?

Richard Garcia

Richard Garcia's poetry books include The Other Odyssey (Dream Horse Press, 2014), The Chair (BOA, 2015), and Porridge (Press 53, 2016). His poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies. He has received several Pushcart nominations and a Pushcart Prize and has been in Best American Poetry. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina.

Headshot: Richard Garcia

Photo Credit: Staff