Mark J. Mitchell studied writing and medieval literature at the University of California at Santa Cruz with Raymond Carver, George Hitchcock, Barbara Hull and Robert M. Durling. His work has appeared in the anthologies Good Poems, American Places (Viking/Penguin), Line Drives (Southern Illinois University Press), Hunger Enough (Puddinghouse Press) and Zeus Seduces the Wicked Stepmother in the Saloon of the Gingerbread House (Winterhawk Press). His chapbook, Three Visitors won the 2010 Negative Capability Press International Chapbook competition. His poems have appeared in many magazines over the last twenty years, including J Journal, kayak, Blue Unicorn, Black Bough, Santa Barbara Review, Pearl, Runes, Buddhist Poetry Review, Plainsongs, Snakeskin, Matchbook Poetry, HeyDay Magazine, Indigo Rising and Poem.
Winter 2011
Table of Contents - Vol. VII, No. 4
Poetry Fiction Translations Reviews
Mark J. Mitchell
How did they spend their evenings—
Louis and Elsa? Did they sit
Back to stiff back, punishing typewriters,
Producing books like children?
Or did they walk out in Paris,
Sit up late in cafes, sipping wine
As blood red as their passionate politics
Waited on by Ho chi Minh?
Maybe Louis spent every night
Bowing before Elsa, covering her
From head to toe with dialectical kisses
In precise metrical patterns.
Maybe she talked to friends on her
Fur-lined telephone, while he played
Dominoes with the dog. Maybe the Magrittes
Forgot to come over for bridge.
I suspect that he cooked and she
Paid the bills while a long lost comedian
Made silly sounds on the radio,
Moving manifestos to set their table.
© Mark J. Mitchell
