Take that little trip  

into the room. Pull back  

the cloth: ghouls, rodents, 

problems that don’t exist 

exist outside of the room. 

When my father dies 

he says he wants his body 

launched into space. 

I haven’t asked where. 

My mother I’m not 

so sure. When she dies, 

I think I will take her 

to the mountain. Maybe 

travelers will guide us. 

Maybe I won’t even climb. 

I can just stand there 

talking, listening, not. 

Let me keep her eyes.  

José Gutierrez, a descendant of Mexican immigrants and the Wixáritari peoples, is a graduate of California State University at Long Beach and Washington University in St. Louis. They live on unceded Nipmuc land in Massachusetts.