Poem of the Week, by Javier Etchevarren

I read this poem the other day, my first time reading this poet. The scenes being described were so ordinary but slightly weird, like the image of a mother waiting at school with an apple pie for her grown son. I was zipping right along, happy that the family in the poem had come to this peaceful time in their lives together, the sadnesses and strain behind them, and then I came to the ending. And thought, This is one of those poems that does what poems can do.

Reunion

– Javier Etchevarren, translated from the Spanish by Jesse Lee Kercheval

Mama works less

and hugs me more.

She waits for me

at the school doors

with an apple pie

(no matter that I

am 30 plus years old).

My older brother

has not lost his job.

Luckily,

he has quit smoking

in our bedroom.

My middle brother

has stopped breaking

his back for others

and uncorks an expensive wine.

My father

—who has quit drinking—

returns to the house

and asks forgiveness.

We forgive him.

We smile for the picture

while weeping with joy:

all my family reunited

in this poem.

 

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