"How My Grandpa’s Ghost Crossed The Border" by Tanya Castro

How My Grandpa’s Ghost Crossed The Border

In the dark edges of lone land

un coyote llora, detenido en su camino.

I’m told we believe in spirits,

people stuck on a different border of life

and once when we lived in Oakland

mi mama vio a su papa.

I wondered how my grandpa’s ghost

crossed the border, how long he had been stuck

till coming face to face with his hija

in a land where he didn’t belong.

Me dijo que no tenia miedo

he looked at her from the glass doors

made no move to come in. I wondered if he could.

My mama stood still, she doesn’t remember

how long they just stared at each other

until she heard a coyote howl.

She never saw him again.

I wonder how long it took him to find her.

Did each second count for a second?

Tanya Castro

Tanya Castro is a writer from Oakland, California. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Saint Mary’s College of California. Tanya’s work is a Best of Microfiction 2022 winner as well as nominated for Best of the Net 2021. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Acentos Review, Anser Journal, FEED Lit Mag, Lost Balloon and Mason Jar Press.

Headshot: Janette Sanchez

Photo Credit: Staff