Bio
Benito Vila lives in a remote fishing village on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Since moving there in early 2022, his poetry has been published by several kind literary journals, including Voices, Love Love Magazine, DoubleSpeak, Sixfold, Seppuku, Maintenant, Book of Matches, BeatLife, Beatnik Cowboy and GAS: Poetry, Art and Music. His other published work includes profiles of “counterculture” instigators for pleasekillme.com, liner notes for musical projects by Peter Stampfel and Mike Watt, and the editing of poet Charles Plymell’s email correspondences into two books, for Bottle of Smoke Press.
Trigger Warning
Start. There once were no flowers, no birds. Now we rely on them to lift us up. Stop. People in pain are insane. That frenzy of theirs is meant to be both a teacher and a guide. Start. To want someone to be like you, to want to have any real say over what anyone does, is a wish for despair. Stop. Lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world, grant me peace. Start. How did I know it was time to move on, time to go? No one tapped me on the shoulder and told me, “Hey, you’re done here now,” Stop. I went where I hadn’t been before and found a new way to talk. The old words had lost their meanings and were way too brittle to carry around. Start. A pink desert rose, a bright dry sorrow. Mercy is no mistake; salvation can take on any color. Stop. Every human life has a tragic ending, the hero dies every time. Start. Our DNA is mostly driven by fear, a cellular expectation of hurt, a complex structure of dismay. Stop. Goats know instinctively that betrayal and grief lead to new ground. We forget. Start. I’m not everyone’s flavor. Stop. I want to live like I’ve never had breakfast before, wake up and get excited to discover toast, butter and jam, a bowl of fruit, a cup of coffee, some lemon tea. Start. I live at a time when the power of yes and the power of no have taken on meanings they’ve never had before. Stop. To do the kindest thing is the only option. Start. Withholding helps no one. Punishing does nothing but make sure revenge remains an option. Stop. We all need more mercy than we need more justice. Start. In everything I do, wherever I am, can I let myself be baptized, immersed into something new, something beautiful, a world where explanations are never asked for or ever made necessary?