Shepard DiStasio

mama bakes bread and
seven kinds of fish
before
any of us wake up.

it doesn’t snow here,
but it smells like fir
and peppermint and dirt
mixed with rain.

the dirt here can’t
hold onto rain all that well,
but baba takes us
out anyway.

claims we’ll only make it more difficult for mama.

down the winding road with
the windows down cause
we like to catch the rain with
our tongues.

baba hates water on
his leather seats, but
he sticks his head out too
while fm radio plays.

Two large horchata, and three conchas please.

cash only—baba doesn’t
carry a whole lot,
but he gets something for
himself.

feet kicking, sipping cinnamon
and vanilla, watching rain
flood the greenbelt behind
our house.

baba’s quiet.
mama calls for us.

Shepard DiStasio (he/they) is a trans, disabled writer based in Chicago, IL. He is a Swarthout Award winner in poetry, and his debut novel, Veil Us in Gold, was an indie ink awards finalist. They have poetry in DOG TEETH, Reverent: An Anthology, and a poetic translation in HFR’s Thousand Languages Project. He has 2 cats, and loves to translate ancient poetry between revisions on their Gothic novels.