Mediterraneo

Francisco Aragón

After Teresita Fernández’s Nocturnal (Horizon Line), 2010, solid graphite on panel

Close your eyes. Forget the color you think I am, the color you thought I was. Do you remember the balcony—the one in Sitges those evenings in July? How I cleansed you with the sounds I made: breathing through my skin on moonless nights. Or Friday afternoons up the coast. You’d stroll to the port—not sidewalks along the street, but one wide walk, traffic streaming up and down, both sides of it: La Rambla, ambling past pavilions on your right and left: newsagents, florists, pet merchants and their chirping cages— that year you lived beside me. Open your eyes. Are you surprised at the long horizontal lines that are my face? Look closely, here I am: my uneven rocky shoreline—along the bottom. Scan slowly up and see how calm my waters can become, and above these: un cielo manso, un cielo gris. But I grew weary of my liquid voice, as you grew weary of Sundays, haunting the avenues with nowhere to go. Until, one night, you discovered the possibilities of steam. And I, the next day, the wonders of graphite—pounded and shaped, pounded and shaped: she renewed me, became my maker. What are you thinking, standing there? When was the last time you thought of me—the last time I was inside you?

Upon his return to the United States in 1998 after a ten-year residence in Spain, Francisco Aragón began a period of activity that has included his own literary output, editing, translating, and literary curating. After completing degrees in creative writing from UC Davis (M.A.) and the University of Notre Dame (M.F.A.) in 2000 and 2003, respectively, he joined the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) at Notre Dame, where he established the ILS’ literary initiative—Letras Latinas, where he has conceived of and overseen programs for Latino/a poets and writers. He is the author of two collections of poetry: Puerta del Sol (Bilingual Press, 2005) and Glow of Our Sweat (Scapegoat Press, 2010) as well as editor of the award-winning anthology, The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry (University of Arizona Press, 2007). His poems and translations have appeared in various journals and anthologies. A native of San Francisco, CA, and resident of Arlington, VA, he spends the fall semester on the Notre Dame campus, and spring and summer working out of the ILS’ office in Washington, D.C.