Gorgonio

Old Grey-back, San Bernardino, California’ – May 22nd, 2019

ten hours in a storm of company

thoughts fall like snow-showers

drippings of our former selves.

You don’t really know yourself.

I suppose this freedom is glinting

I am not afraid to travel blind

among these switchbacks

all my life, my goals must align

wanting to be near God, to god

atop a frigid point.

The only nearness

I feel is silence.

God gave us these flaws

I’m nurturing them to my likeness

nature intended openness—

I’m going keep my head up on my shoulders

carving the form I want, but is it ever truly

what I want, God is I, I am You, You—

hell, I’m going let you sever it all.

---

Shawn Anto is from Delano, California. He’s originally from Kerala, India. He received his B.A. in English & Theatre at CSU Bakersfield and will pursue his MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia University this Fall. His writing has been featured or is forthcoming in Reed Magazine, O:JA&L, Mojave Heart Review, and elsewhere.