Juan Pablo Mobili
Juan Pablo Mobili was born in Buenos Aires, and adopted by New York. His poems appeared, among others, in The American Journal of Poetry, Hanging Loose Press, South Florida Poetry Journal, Louisville Review, and The Paterson Literary Review, as well as international publications such as The Wild Word (Germany), Hong Kong Review (Hong Kong), Impspired (UK), Pasaje (Argentina), and Otoliths (Australia). His work received multiple nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. His chapbook, “Contraband,” was published in 2022.
This Time (as Old as He Was Then)
I’d watch how he looked up
and pursed his lips at the edge of whistling
when he wanted to end a thought
with a precise idea,
and pursed his lips at the edge of whistling
when he wanted to end a thought
with a precise idea,
I’d watch how his eyes settled
on the lips that launched a question,
and chose to be silent,
how silence would prevent a war,
on the lips that launched a question,
and chose to be silent,
how silence would prevent a war,
I’d watch how elegantly
his fingers came to rest on his mouth
when he knew
it was his time to speak,
how his perfectly trimmed moustache
would not prepare you for the harshness of his words,
particularly if you were his son,
especially if he loved you.
would not prepare you for the harshness of his words,
particularly if you were his son,
especially if he loved you.
