Vanessa Libertad Garcia, “The B Job”

Author: Poetry Editor

September 30, 2010

This week we’re featuring work by two poets in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Today’s poem is by Vanessa Libertad Garcia.

THE B JOB

Mundane routine

sharpens its blade

en la madrugada.

I hear the swiping sound
of steel on steel

Louder than toilet water
dripping on tile.

When she laid next to me
it didn’t keep me awake
like now.

Her calming breath drowned out the noise
the threat
that office work makes

before you punch in at 9 in the morning.

——

VANESSA LIBERTAD GARCIA is a Cuban–American writer & filmmaker who grew up between the ‘burbs and hoods of Los Angeles. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University, she’s completed a myriad of successful projects that tackle both the film and literary worlds. Ms. Garcia has worked in various capacities as writer, director, and producer on fiction films such as the HSF/McNamara Arts Grant recipient A Two Woman One Act and documentaries such as Maid in America, which debuted on PBS’ Independent Lens.