Mountains of Rust

by Patrick Fontes

"I wanted to write about poppy blossoms / But I live in Fresno,” Patrick Fontes writes in the poem "Poppy Blossoms." That line contains the crux of all the poems in Mountains of Rust. Fontes' poems detail the lives of the poor and working class of Fresno (and elsewhere), all of whom had things they wanted to do with their lives...but they live in Fresno. Or they’re addicts, or migrant farm workers, or just broken down in a rent-by-the week motel room. Still, the poems and people in Mountains of Rust are not without their own beauty. Whether its a woman playing pennies, two punks sharing a cold beer in a dark bar, or a man enjoying a bowl of pho—there may not be poppy blossoms in Fresno, but there are moments of poetry and hope. In Fontes' breathless verses, you can feel the heat of Fresno streets rising off the page. To read this book is to experience real life in all its shit and heartbreak and glory.

68 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2019