Gabriel Mundo

Gabriel Mundo is a poet and writer. He is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Mississippi.

It was always here

It always had to be here.
Here, where a boy pushes
a lawnmower up the hill
like Sisyphus if he were Mexican.
Where a group of chamacas
make fun of the neighbors
while they suck on mango skins,
their citrus laughter sweetening
the air. It always had to be here
and it had to be with you.
With my sister whose stomach
swells with a future citizen.
With my mother who is cutting
avocados by the window,
using her calloused hands
as a cutting board. With
the women who greet me
when I walk in their restaurant,
with the men who give subtle
nods in my directions.
There’s no better place
for the world to begin and end.
The first fire was lit in this place.
Revelations will ravish these streets.
This is the entire world:
Here. It was always here.