Sandra Becker

BENJAMIN

Listen to Audio Version read by Jill Khoury.

My mom cried all the time.
Now she in new home in heaven.
She happy now. She call me today.
Yes she did so.
At Special Olympic's volleyball,
his back curved to one side,
a rod in one leg, he's unable to sit
on the floor for warm-up exercises.
Some know him, say, Hi Benjamin.
Surprised at his good fortune, he smiles back.
I'm going to marry Nellie, live with her
and Lashana and Minnie too.
He hasn't told them yet.
Back in the car he says:
My sister, me, my father cry.
My mom, she happy now.
She in heaven. I miss my mom.
She called me today, Yes, she did so.
He keeps his eyes lowered
as if to raise his head
might mean the ceiling would fall,
the walls tumble;
if he looks around,
the floor would collapse.
At the restaurant,
he looks at the platters of food
behind the glass display in front of him.
He lifts a finger slightly
and points, his voice so quiet
as if he were to speak
the world would shatter.

Sandra Becker is the 2015 Bucks County, Pennsylvania Poet Laureate selected by Kim Addonizio. Poems published in Comstock Review, Main Street Rag, U.S. 1 Worksheets and others. Her books include: Imperfect Matter (WordTech 2013) , At the Well of Flowers (Virtual Artists' Collective 2011), Foreign Bodies (Carolina Wren Press 2004). Her manuscript Dread Islands will be published July 2015 by Kelsey Books/Aldrich Press. Becker's poem, A City Girl Feeds Country Cows was read by Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac.