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Mónica de la Torre

Mónica de la Torre is co-author of the book Appendices, Illustrations & Notes (Smart Art Press) with artist Terence Gower, and co-editor, with

Michael Wiegers, of Reversible Monuments: Contemporary Mexican Poetry (Copper Canyon Press). She edited and translated the volume Poems by Gerardo Deniz, published by Lost Roads and Taller Ditoria, and has translated numerous other Spanish-language poets. Born and raised in Mexico City, she moved to New York in 1993. She has been the poetry editor of The Brooklyn Rail since 2001 and is pursuing a PhD in Spanish Literature at Columbia University. Her work has appeared in journals including Art on Paper, BOMB, Bombay Gin, Boston Review, Chain, Circumference, Fence, Mandorla, Review: Latin American Literature and Arts, and 26. Talk Shows (Switchback Books, 2007) is her first book of original poetry in English.

Durango, Durango

Mónica de la Torre

There once was a weeping willow that never wept. Maybe someone missed the weeping, or the tree just looked like it was grieving but it wasn't because there was no reflecting pool below it.

This is how one who has a story can begin a story. When one does not have a story one can write a letter, for instance.

Dear Papa,

I imagine you on your sailboat, drinking a beer and thinking about the splendid life you've got now that you keep fewer houses. I miss your Sunday sense of humor. I think about it constantly.

Love,

Moi

PS: Perhaps you and I could talk over the phone one of these days, about why the only time you've ever mentioned your hometown was when you told us the story about the locals burning down a set for a Western so as to heat their tortillas? Like you, I'm afraid of sounding trite when I talk about local flavor. Is that why I've got no story? There's a big lake here that you might find attractive. You could practice your water sports while I remember the right spelling for lacunae.

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