Mexican Corner

This empty lot is called
Mexican Corner.
No one’s really sure why.

The name doesn’t show
on any map. Only the locals
say it. They all say it.

Corner of Elm
and Main. Used to be
a house here

but the brick-crumb
ground that was beneath
is all that’s left. A little scorched,

concrete dusted.
A messy spot on the edge
of what used to be downtown. 

Maybe there was a Mexican
there once? Living there,
happy there? There’s not one there

now, nor is there one
for miles around. All we’ve got
is the name, the earth

soiled with erasure,
and a lot of folks who shrug
when asked about history.