by Jon Tobias

The property manager shows us the unit

and tells us to shuffle our feet.

There are so many upturned roaches

the hardwood floor looks like it is covered

in my father’s weekly stubble.

I pretend to ice skate to the room I say

will be my bedroom and realize where foley artists

get the sound for wind blowing leaves across pavement.

In the car my father cries for the first time in his life

while my mother pulls on to the highway.

BIO

Jon Tobias is an MFA Poetry Candidate at San Diego State University. He is the author of the chapbook, Talking to Ghosts (Quillkeepers Press 2024). His poetry and flash fiction have been featured in Quillkeepers Press, Zone 3, White Stag Publishing, Kindabummed Magazine, and A Word With You Press. He is currently teaching himself Python to produce creative works in computer code. He is also the co-host of Poetry International’s podcast, PIPO.