Juan Pablo Mobili

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The Shape of Things

I saw a stone in the shape
of a resentful heart

and a question mark
in the shape of a lamp,

a lamp in the shape of a root
           letting go of the ground,

a root in the shape of a hand,
and a hand in the shape of a tear,

a question not looking for an answer,
a stone in the shape of a stone.

Juan Pablo Mobili was born in Buenos Aires, and adopted by New York. In January of 2025, he became Poet Laureate of Rockland County, New York. His poems appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Worcester Review, Louisville Review, and Hanging Loose Press, among others, as well as publications in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. He received multiple Pushcart nominations, and his chapbook Contraband was published in 2022. In 2025, he was appointed Poet Laureate of Rockland County, New York.