Mount Erie

by Alfredo Aguilar

there has never been
any other world.

even in the wonder
of entering a new landscape

i could never stop
carrying myself.

i wanted to build my life
as small as a comma.

to be forgotten
the way a city forgets

the stars. to live
at the edge of the world

where nature locks
& unlocks itself

year after year whether or not
anyone is looking.

the most beautiful places
i’ve ever been

were inside songs
& this was the closest

i got to vanishing.
i wanted to find

the animal in my body
& skin it. to find

the river in my body
& lie in it. to let

the water render me
like every other silent

glowing stone in the sky.

Alfredo Aguilar is the son of Mexican immigrants. He is the author of the forthcoming chapbooks, Recuerdo (YesYes Books, 2018) and What Happens On Earth (BOAAT Press, 2018). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Adroit Journal, The Iowa Review, Best New Poets 2017, and elsewhere. He lives in North County San Diego.