
Gustavo Adolfo Aybar
WebsiteYears: 2011
Biography
Gustavo Adolfo Aybar is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he received his MA in Romance Languages & Literature. As a scholar he’s presented at the University of Florida, and has upcoming publications by ABC-CLIO and Salem Press. He is a Cave Canem fellow, and as a member of the Latino Writer's Collective, his work can be found in their anthology, Primera Pagina: Poetry from the Latino Heartland (Scapegoat Press, 2008). Other publications include: Harvest of New Millennium 3.1 & 4.1; Black Magnolias Literary Journal, Jan. 2010; NINE: A Journal of Baseball History & Culture 19-1 Fall 2010; Oranges & Sardines Dec. 2009; and presentmagazine.com where he was a Poet-In-Residence all of 2010. For access to more information, poetry and videos visit www.gustavoadolfoaybar.com.
Poem
The Only Thing I Have
For my grandfather Jose Francisco Aybar
And this is how I remember him:
with a business card plus two pictures,
which I place side by side, next to my own.
With slick black hair, mine curls into question marks;
thick, full eye brows; a rounded chin like lemon rind;
with lips like cracks creeping into the wall
of his mouth and a suggested smile
also like mine—through eyes dizzied with love
and imperfections.
The similarities melt into something
undiscovered and unknown.
The card: Mecánico Perito en Reparaciones
de Maquinas de Coser, indicates a life seasoned
by levers, foot controls and the wild buzz
of needles. The work is guaranteed, unlike
the card. It will never guess it is a broken promise.
It will never know
it is the only thing I have that he has touched.